Family of the Dark: Dark Days
by MikiMoke
Summary: The Outbreak has come, and it is up to a group of teens and their teachers to survive in the new world. But when more and more people join them, and a rival group threatens their survival, how will they make do without going insane? How long will it take for the zombie apocalypse to end? *Redo of Family of the Dark* R&R plz!
1. Characters

**Greetings, people. Like last time, I have a page with all the characters on it! And what's this? Mori's not on it? Friends, I have good reason for that. Remember the quiz on the top of my page? The one that asked who was going to die first? (Being blunt here.) Mori was the first to die. But since I have changed the storyline for this a bit, you'll just have to wait and see what I have in store for the little genius :D**

**~Miki**

* * *

_**Name:**_Miki Yamamoto

_**Nickname:**_Cheeky (on some occasions); Yamamoto-chan (only by Morita – to distinguish her from Mori)

_**Age:**_17

_**Gender:**_Female

_**Personality:**_Miki's personality is quite laid back and relaxed, and she tends to take it a little far when she skips school and ignores most of her classes. She is quite talented in her P.E. classes but lacks the same attention span in her other ones. She tends to use sarcasm when she's angry and deliberately disobeys her father after she and her brother found out he had cheated on their mother. She tends to say a few words oddly because of her slight Irish accent, and is sometimes embarrassed by it. On some occasions (example, when she is drunk) she uses sayings that involve being Irish in them, such as, "Kiss me, I'm Irish."

_**Nationality:**_Japanese/Irish

_**Family:**_

_**Father:**_Fujita Yamamoto

_**Mother:**_ Heather Yamamoto

_**Brother:**_ Mori Yamamoto

_**Half-brother:**_Jiro Kamiki

_**Background:**_ Miki has always been the kind of girl that prefers to sleep rather than work, and no one sees her changing this any time soon. Her father had been in a relationship with a woman for a short period of time and left the minute he found out she was pregnant. After that, her father had met her mother, and they lived happily for some ten years. When Miki and Mori were eleven, they caught on to their father's late night returns from work, and around a year later he was found out. Their mother divorced him instantly, as he was cheating on her with his previous girlfriend, and then she started to get depression. From that point on, Miki and Mori had to take on the parental role.

Around three years before the Outbreak, their father returned to them and begged their mother to take him back. Desperate and weak, their mother agreed. After that, Miki and Mori were distant from their father and called him the bane of their existence or simply stayed away from him. That still didn't stop him from getting Miki interested in archery and surfing, though.

A day before the Outbreak, their father told them that his oldest son – the son of his mistress – wanted to get in contact with them. Mori was fast to decline, but Miki required time to think about her decision. She is still unsure about whether or not she wants to call him.

_**Description -**_

_**Hair:**_Short and brown, about shoulder length. During her escape from Fujimi High, a portion turns white from the shock of the Outbreak. Generally wears it in a ponytail, then just loosely plaits it later on.

_**Eyes:**_Green, and her left eye is darker than the other

_**Height:**_166cm

_**Clothing:**_Standard Kyuube High uniform (described in first chapter) with her black two piece bikini underneath. Moves on to a look that is a bit like Black Rock Shooter – wears a black jacket over her bikini top, and the jacket is left open; wears a pair of black three-quarter pants with a white fabric tied around the waist for a belt; wears a pair of black converses.

_**Markings/Tattoos/Piercings:**_Small scar on her hip from when she fell off her surfboard and landed on some rocks – she was in hospital for a week with the damage done (doesn't seem to mind the scars, though, and openly shows them whenever she surfs or goes to the pool)

_**Weapons –**_

_**School (temporary and realistic):**_Fire extinguisher

_**Main:**_Bow and arrows

_**Secondary:**_Uses her bow as a bat when she runs out of arrows (it be a sturdy bow, yar *lame pirate voice*)

_**Strengths:**_Good balance, skilled using the bow and arrows, strong arms and legs, knows how to brawl

_**Weaknesses:**_Temper, holds grudges (which do go away with time), her impulse actions, her belief that school is the root of all evil (that statement has gotten her in more trouble than you could imagine...)

_**Fears:**_Darkness, complete silence (like no sound whatsoever – it just creeps her out to the max)

_**Likes:**_Surfing, sleeping, sports, skipping school, peace, relaxation, water, swimming, archery

_**Dislikes:**_Anything not in the "like" section that isn't food – unless you include fighting (give her a chair and she'll find a violent way to use it...)

_**Sexuality: **_Straight

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with):**_Hmm... Someone laid back like her, and someone that she can relate to. They also won't pity her, as she despises being pitied.

_**Misc:**_ She used to be best friends with Ami Tokugawa, but no longer retains that friendship after Ami made fun of her when Miki's father cheated on her mother.

...

_**Name:**_Ami Tokugawa

_**Nickname:**_Violet (from her hair colour, but only gets called this as much as Miki gets called Cheeky)

_**Age:**_17

_**Gender:**_Female

_**Personality:**_ Ami has a tsundere personality – proof of this is her relationship with her former-friend, Miki. She can be caring toward others and sisterly in certain ways, and she can even go so far as to beating up people for bullying her friends. When she becomes cold, however, she can be quite the opposite. If she finds out something that could benefit her and get her into an 'in-crowd' of sorts, she'll gladly turn on her friends. This changes slightly after a few days of Z-Day, where she realises that she _needs_friends in order to stay sane and survive. After Z-Day, she becomes a warmer person to be around, but still shows her cold side every now and then, which appears to be slightly sadistic.

_**Nationality: **_Japanese

_**Family:**_Kairi Tokugawa, brother; Haru Tokugawa, father; Juri Tokugawa, mother

_**Background:**_She doesn't really tell it much, but she led an average life until Z-Day, playing out some of her days like the Japanese Regina George. She found out that Miki's father was cheating on his wife and their friendship ended when they were eleven. During Z-Day, they slowly build up that friendship again through trust.

_**Description -**_

_**Hair:**_Light purple hair (dyed) that is curled and reaches her shoulder blades, keeps tied in a loose ponytail.

_**Eyes:**_Bright blue eyes

_**Height:**_167cm

_**Clothing:**_Starts off with the standard Kyuube High uniform (but keeps the top buttons of her shirt undone to, according to her, "display her figure"). Moves on to a purple punky shirt that has two badges on it (one saying "FREE SPEECH" and the other with a picture of Grell from Kuroshitsuji), long black and purple stockings that reach her thighs, black sandals, black tank top, purple jacket. (She is a big fan of purple, which is why she dyed her hair the colour.)

_**Markings/Tattoos/Piercings:**_ A scar on her wrist from when she cut herself after she and Miki stopped being friends – it was, believe it or not, accidental; who knew that a car door broke the bone _and_the skin?

_**Weapons –**_

_**School (temporary and realistic):**_None – she's just too chicken to grab something and use it if it is bigger than scissors.

_**Main:**_Handgun she keeps in her jacket.

_**Secondary:**_None – again, too chicken to grab and use anything bigger than scissors. Why does she have the handgun? "If we get cornered with no way out, you know what I'll be doing!" -.-'

_**Strengths:**_Shooting (who said too many video games was bad?); running; hiding

_**Weaknesses:**_Keeping a straight face; killing someone; killing "them"; assimilating into a new lifestyle

_**Fears:**_The dark – she since her brother locked her in the basement when she was six, she's had an immense fear of it.

_**Likes:**_ Gossiping, reading magazines, eating meringues, taking pictures on her phone, purple (she's obsessed, but not _obsessed_with purple.)

_**Dislikes:**_A dirty room (she's also a bit of a clean freak), being lazy, not knowing an answer to give, crying in front of people

_**Sexuality:**_Straight

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with):**_Meh, she'd go for any type as long as they treat her right, and if she adds on she would also make sure they're handsome. (She would love him back, if she noticed him over her problems with zombies...)

_**Misc: **_Ami's breast size is a little bigger than girls' her age, and gets embarrassed when people like Hiro point it out – however, she goes to school with her shirt's top button and jacket undone to "advertise". Also, believe it or not, Ami used to have a crush on Mori. It wasn't until later on, when Miki and Ami weren't friends, that she got over him.

...

_**Name:**_Natsume Hitomi

_**Nickname:**_Nat or Natty (Natty is special to her because it was the nickname her parents gave her and gets upset when she hears it.)

_**Age:**_16

_**Gender: **_Female

_**Personality:**_Natsume is an intelligent girl with a straightforward attitude. She doesn't take sh*t from anyone and always has a deadly aura around her. She isn't the nicest person to be with at first, but when you really get to know her she can be a sweetheart. She gets bored easily so needs to be constantly occupied by something or someone. She hates being called and treated like a kid. Natsume's quirk is that she adores being patted on the head and, if she's in a really good mood, might even purr (but will deny it later).

_**Nationality:**_Japanese

_**Family:**_

_**Father:**_Kirito Hitomi, dead

_**Mother:**_Arisu Hitomi, dead

_**Background:**_Natsume is the troubled daughter of politician Kirito Hitomi and writer Arisu Hitomi. Growing up a privileged lifestyle, Natsume had everything handed to her on a silver plate. Although her father traveled a lot and was mostly busy, he still made time for her and her mother. When Natsume was 6, her mother was diagnosed with cancer and died six months later. This crushed Natsume and she fell into a great depression. She began to isolate herself from everyone else and refused to go outside. Five years later, her father was assassinated before he could take office. Now in an even deeper depression, she began to cut herself. The one thing she regretted most was not being there for her father and pushing him away. At age 13, she decided enough was enough and got help for herself. She saw a therapist, started doing yoga, and even took up martial arts. She, now 16, is much healthier physically and mentally. She still cuts herself sometimes to relieve stress and so she constantly knows what pain is.

_**Description -**_

_**Hair:**_chest length bleached blonde hair with her black roots showing

_**Eyes:**_cobalt blue

_**Height:**_5'2

_**Clothing:**_black jeggings, white fitted v-neck shirt, grey cardigan, flat grey ankle boots, black beanie

_**Markings/Tattoos/Piercings:**_faint and some new scars along her wrists

_**Weapons –**_

_**School (temporary and realistic):**_metal baseball bat

_**Main:**_a silenced 45 mm. Colt

_**Secondary:**_a 9in. combat knife and martial arts

_**Strengths:**_martial arts, stealth, speed, balance, can climb up things really well

_**Weaknesses:**_short temper, gets bored easily

_**Fears:**_getting close to someone only to watch them die later on

_**Likes:**_being pat on the head

_**Dislikes:**_perverts, idiots, people that piss her off

_**Sexuality:**_Straight

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with):**_A boy who doesn't piss her off and has a generally playful, fun attitude.

_**Misc:**_

...

_**Name:**_Rin Himura

_**Nickname:**_None

_**Age:**_25

_**Gender: **_Female

_**Personality:**_Rin is very down to earth compared to the rest of her family and enjoys the company of others. She's very caring and compassionate but can be stubborn and straightforward as well. She can be both an optimist and a pessimist, though she'll never mention her doubts and worries. Rin finds that she has a heavy weight on her shoulders when trying to be a role model for the students during the outbreak, when she is just as scared and worried as they are. Despite this, she constantly reminds herself that she must be strong for them and will try to somehow get them to survive. She doesn't judge others and enjoys helping out whenever she can. She enjoys a few jokes if they are especially funny and can on occasion get caught being selfish.

_**Nationality:**_Japanese

_**Family:**_Aya Himura (older twin sister, alive/infected); Ryu Himura (older brother, alive); Mai Himura (mother, deceased); Jin Himura (father, unknown)

_**Background:**_Rin has a very good relationship with her family. She grew up closer to her brother than her sister and was always babied for being the youngest. Her father and brother are politicians while her sister is a secretary. Growing up Rin initially wanted to become a nurse but found that she loved teaching and decided to do what she truly liked despite the believes of her father. Rin and Aya share a large home together that was given to them by their father and live comfortably.

_**Description -**_

_**Hair:**_She has straight black hair down to her mid back with right side bangs.

_**Eyes:**_She has light blue eyes.

_**Height:**_5'6"

_**Clothing:**_She wears a pink blouse, black skirt, white lab coat, and black shoes.

_**Markings/Tattoos/Piercings:**_She has the words 'love life' tattooed in cursive on the left side of her left index finger in black. She usually covers it up with make-up when she's at work.

_**Weapons –**_

_**School (temporary and realistic):**_Fire Extinguisher

_**Main:**_Pistol

_**Secondary:**_Crow Bar

_**Strengths: **_She knows a few things about health, she's a good listener and she's pretty good with a handgun.

_**Weaknesses:**_She isn't physically strong and she worries more about others than herself.

_**Fears:**_Losing someone close to her, elevators, and spiders.

_**Likes:**_Sports, spicy foods, humor and movies.

_**Dislikes:**_Being a burden to others, negative emotions, and perverts.

_**Sexuality:**_Straight

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with):**_Someone who is slightly older than herself and share some of her interests.

_**Misc:**_ None.

...

_**Name:**_Yoshio Mishima

_**Nickname(s):**_Yoh, Shio-kun (only for people who are close to him, so nobody; he just wishes Rin or any attractive woman would refer to him this way)

_**Age:**_26 (birthday was the day before the outbreak)

_**Gender:**_Male

_**Personality:**_Yoshio is a very soft-spoken and reserved person, but also very intimidating at first glance. He is also very caring, but refuses to show that side. Yoshio is patient, but the mere mention of abuse (especially to females) will lead him to meltdown. He tries to avoid conflict at all times (unless it's Shido; he REALLY wants to beat the **** out of Shido). He is also afraid of confessing his feelings in fear of rejection, and always assumes that women hate him from the start.

_**Nationality:**_Japanese (Formerly American)

_**Family:**_Naomasa Mishima (younger adopted brother, unknown); Takeru Mishima (father, deceased); Misaki Mishima (mother, deceased)

_**Background:**_Born in the United States but moved Japan, Yoshio was previously an amateur martial artist who trained with styles like kickboxing and Kyokushin. He had trained to one day win "Ninja Warrior," but would always be eliminated before the final stage. Begrudgingly, Yoh took a job as an English teacher at Fujimi High School to pay for bills.

_**Description-**_

_**Hair:**_Black (short and neat)

_**Eyes:**_Dark brown eyes

_**Height:**_5'11, lean build

_**Clothing:**_At first, Yoh wears a grey suit with a black button down shirt. Later, he changes into a black conforming side zip jacket over a faded black t-shirt, blue jeans, black elbow and knee pads, black fingerless gloves, a black cap, and black ankle work boots.

_**Markings/Tatoos/Piercings:**_Yoshio has scars of cuts all over his torso from his time as a fighter.

_**Weapons-**_

_**School (temporary and realistic):**_None

_**Main:**_FN Five-seven with 30-rd extended magazines

_**Secondary:**_A black 26-inch straight stick riot baton

_**Strengths:**_close combat experience, stamina, barebones experience in freerunning (from "Ninja Warrior"), knows how to lie and bluff VERY well, speaks both English and Japanese

_**Weaknesses:**_Recurring left shoulder injury (causes occasional bouts of sharp pain at left shoulder), some scars will occasionally sting and reopen, forcing him to use a lot of bandages

_**Fears:**_Being alone, being unloved, serrated edges (especially saws)

_**Likes:**_Martial arts, instant noodles, Rin Himura (secretly), hugs (really big secret), hats

_**Dislikes:**_Perverts, Shido, anyone who blindly believes in something (*cough* Shido's students *cough*), reptiles

_**Sexuality:**_Straight/Heterosexual

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with):**_Besides Rin, a woman who is both intelligent and independent. Likes if they have a fiery personality as well.

_**Misc:**_Yoshio is obsessed with hats, especially caps.

...

_**Name:**_Geoffrey Kuribayashi Dees

_**Nickname:**_Cowboy, Southpaw

_**Age:**_18 (B-Day June 3)

_**Gender:**_Male

_**Personality:**_Strong, silent type, prefers to strike from afar when dealing with zombies, only resorting to close range combat when there is no other choice. Normally a loner but gets along fine with others, though his modus operandi is normally alone or with a partner. Slightly awkward around girly-girls and holds contempt for guys that try and show off. Patient most of the time, with the exception of individuals that come up with the most downright stupid ideas or plans. Is normally motivated to do things through rewards or money (though the latter is now virtually useless during the Outbreak). Has an extreme dislike of politicians, arrogant individuals, and womanizers. Doesn't take a shot unless he knows that it will connect with a target. If his personality could be compared to a popular figure it would be that of Clint Eastwood's Man with no Name. Would make great friends with Kohta Hirano due to their mutual love of guns.

_**Nationality:**_American (Japanese-American to be precise)

_**Family: Father:**_ Tadamichi Kuribayashi Dees, father, Status Unknown  
_**Mother:**_ Miyuki Kuribayashi, mother, Status Unknown (Presumably dead)  
_**Uncle:**_Jerry Dees, uncle, Status Unknown (presumably kicking ass and taking names, courtesy of being a USMC Gunnery Sergeant)

_**Background:**_Born in Arizona to an Army officer and a Japanese mother, he grew up like most American children, though with an utter obsession with guns and military history. Was for the most part a B grade student, though held a perfect score in history. Well-versed in military history and can quote numerous military leaders. Understands strategy and tactics well, but saddened that he doesn't have the social skills to be an effective leader. Resents mother for his pacifism and dislikes his father for not being around enough. To make up for it his Marine Corps uncle taught him how to shoot, making him an expert marksman and trained in basic infantry tactics and fieldcraft. He has held his uncle in such high regard of his uncle that he plans to enlist in the Marine Corps. To assist in this he became a foreign exchange student in Japan for a semester in order to gain some experience in traveling abroad for his future career. Holds a slight reverence for Chinese strategist Sun Tzu, even keeping a copy of his book, The Art of War, stuffed into a pocket.

_**Description -**_

_**Hair:**_Brown and in a buzz cut

_**Eyes:**_Brown

_**Height:**_5'8"

_**Weight:**_155 lb.

_**Clothing:**_When its casual dress he wears regular tee-shirts, graphic tees, blue jeans, and a battered dark brown cowboy hat with a black pair of combat boots. Wears a Mexican serape during rainy weather. During the winter he puts on a sweater between the shirt and serape, otherwise he wears this year-round.

When it's a battle or when moving from place to place he trades them out for a dual-camouflage blouse and cargo pants, with one side being tiger-stripe jungle camouflage and when worn inside out has Soviet urban camouflage. Wears them with his black combat boots and a boonie hat, as well as a tactical MOLLE vest outfitted with magazine pouches, grenade pouches, and even a dump pouch to hold empty magazines in battle.

_**Markings/Tattoos/Piercings:**_None, though debating on a tattoo of the USMC Globe and Anchor.

_**Weapons –**_AKM (fixed stock, wood furniture, Russian origin), M21 Sniper Rifle (Vietnam-style), Remington 1911 R1 (modified with ambidextrous safety), Bowie Knife, Spetsnaz Shovel

_**School (temporary and realistic):**_Temporarily the Japanese high-school in the fic, formerly from a suburban high school in northern Phoenix, Arizona

_**Main (weapons?):**_AKM, M21

_**Secondary**_: 1911, Bowie Knife, Spetsnaz Shovel

_**Strengths:**_Firearms (operation, cleaning, and maintenance of such tools), gun-fighting, infantry tactics and strategy, driving skills (prefers pick-up trucks), okay pilot (good with civilian airplanes and helicopters)

_**Weaknesses:**_Women, Food, Sleep, Sentimental/Hoarder (loves guns to the point that he wants to take them all with him, especially if they're historically significant [aka muskets, cowboy guns, etc.])

_**Fears: **_Death, loss of friends, losing his personal weapons

_**Likes: **_Guns, old movies, food, sleep, women

_**Dislikes:**_womanizers, politicians, gangsters (of the real or wanna-be persuasion)

_**Sexuality:**_Straight (admits he's privately a perv, which means he's a perv but keeps it to himself and tries to not show it in public)

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with): **_Saeko Busujima. He likes her for her independence and no-nonsense attitude. Secretly praises her skills with the sword, knowing full-well the time it takes to obtain such skills. Doesn't think Saeko would like him because "she's out of his league."

_**Misc:**_ Was able to smuggle his knife, shovel, pistol, and MOLLE vest in by masquerading them as airsoft gear, though he has no ammunition for the pistol.

...

_**Name:**_Damien Lombardi

_**Nickname:**_Deadeye

_**Age:**_18, birthday: September 26

_**Gender:**_Male

_**Personality:**_He is very quiet and anti-social, Usually only says 1 or 2 sentences when he talks, has a trouble trusting most guys because of his history, is almost completely emotionless, cold towards those he does not trust or respect, always calculating his next move, not bothered by violence, blood or death, reliable in a fight, has hard time communicating with opposite sex, hard headed, embarrassed about his appearance (scars). At the beginning he will only talk when he deems it necessary but later on may open up more to the group.

_**Nationality:**_Canadian

_**Family:**_Both of his parents died in a house fire when he was 8 years old. He has no other living relatives.

_**Background:**_At age 8 Damien's house caught on fire killing both of his parents and left him the scar on his right eye as well as not being able to see through it. After spending 2 years in an orphanage he left because no one wanted to adopt him. He has spent the last 8 years of his life living on the streets not going to school. Due to his lack of education many people, mostly guys, have tried to take advantage of him (usually committing crimes, getting him addicted to drugs). He became an addict at 13 and stopped using when he was 14. He has been clean for 4 years now. Although not school smart he knows exactly how to survive when the outbreak happens. Living on the streets he is used to close range combat and getting into fist fights. He is covered in scars due to the multiple gang fights he has been in to insure his survival.

_**Description -**_

_**Hair:**_Short red hair. Bangs are spiked up while the rest is flat.

_**Eyes**_: He has one blue eye and his right eye is completely white

_**Height:**_6' 4"

_**Clothing:**_He covers his eyes with black sunglasses. He wears a long sleeved white shirt underneath a red and black sweater that has its sleeves rolled up and is zipped up. He wears dark colored jeans that have multiple rips in them. He also wears an ammo belt filled with shot gun shells. He has red and black Nike shoes on.

_**Markings/Tattoos/Piercings:**_right eye is completely white with a scar starting from his eyebrow and moving down to the upper portion of his cheek. He has a tattoo of a skull on fire on his upper left arm because fire is what brought his parents death.

_**Weapons –**_

_**School (temporary and realistic):**_Does not go to school, so his third weapon is brass knuckles.

_**Main:**_Barrett 50. Cal sniper rifle

_**Secondary:**_Combat shotgun

_**Strengths:**_extremely accurate with sniper, physical strength, endurance, making strategies, sneaking, picking locks, close combat, sense of direction, patience,

_**Weaknesses:**_trusting people, showing emotions, flirting, talking to others (especially girls), hates when people make fun of his lack of education, cooking, not protecting people, making jokes, writing, reading, any subjects you learn in school( only has a 4th grade education).

_**Fears:**_Fire, dogs, drugs

_**Likes:**_music, working out, sunrise, coffee, cats, rain, playing the drums, shadow boxing, cleaning weapons (will continuously clean his brass knuckles, even if their spotless)

_**Dislikes:**_people making fun of his intelligence (has a 4th grade education), people who look down on others, fire, drugs, alcohol, dogs, tea, bullies, spicy food. People finding out about his scars, or asking how he got them.

_**Sexuality:**_Straight

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with):**_he would prefer someone who takes interest in him first because he is not used to dating or flirting with someone. A girl who does not look down on him because of his past.

_**Misc:**_ he enjoys singing (but makes sure no one is listening), house fire was on his birthday so he hates his birthday, has insomnia so he rarely sleeps, he is ambidextrous but does most things with his left hand, Prefers to be alone then in a large group. He looks through his sniper scope with his right eye, even though he can't see through it

...

_**Name:**_Shunkei Shirayuri

_**Nickname:**_Shun

_**Age:**_17

_**Gender:**_Male

_**Personality:**_i feel you nailed him in the story, quiet and very...well he goes with what ever you throw at him.

_**Nationality:**_Japan/American mix

_**Family:**_Itsuki Shirayuri, Carrie Shirayuri

_**Background:**_just a guy who frequently got into trouble he has been called a rebel but he likes to think as himself as a guy who thinks that today will be his last day on earth with his friends if you could call them that, who by the way always got him sent to juvenial hall so he seems a little cold to people afraid of being betrayed again, when he hit highschool he turned himself around became the star of his baseball team and became a b plus student...but that doesn't mean he still isn't a delinquent what they were known as by everyone else around them

_**Description -**_

_**Hair:**_black(which he bleached white before this) straight hair which he cuts just above his collarbone with bangs sweeping over his forehead and very slightly over his eyes.

_**Eyes:**_hetereochromia condition his left eye is deep Green while his right eye is deep Red.

_**Height**_: 5'8"

_**Clothing:**_darkwashed slightly baggy jeans, a dark red belt with a black short sleeved t shirt dark grey hoodie sweatshirt and white shoes with a dark red trim going around the bottom.

_**Markings/Tattoos/Piercings:**_

_**Weapons –**_

_**School (temporary and realistic):**_Fujimi Academy, Shinzo High School

_**Main:**_Baseball bat, he eventually upgrades it with nails sticking out of it.

_**Secondary:**_A glock 19 pistol which he dual weilds with his bat(only for emergencies though due to noise.)

_**Strengths:**_very agile and flexible, has high endurance and is a parkour master

_**Weaknesses:**_has slight asthma, is very impatient(I.E isn't very stealthy)

_**Fears:**_Heights, tight areas, complete darkness

_**Likes:**_parkour/freerunning, baseball, litsening to music, play guitar, talking to people, sleeping.

_**Dislikes:**_being left alone, losing someone he cares about.

_**Sexuality:**_Hetereosexual

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with):**_Miki Yamamoto, or saeko busujima

_**Misc:**_ this isn't really a weapon, but he carries around an electric guitar in a guitar case. if they get into the bus like they did in the first chapter, he'll find it in the back of it.(he forgot to grab it.)

...

_**Name:**_Hiroshi Akazawa

_**Nickname:**_Hiro

_**Age:**_17

_**Gender:**_Male

_**Personality:**_He is a gentle giant. He is also a perverted jokester. Whenever he has something to say about a girl (or sometimes even a boy) he goes for it, which can get him in trouble. He is very easy going and can't be mad at someone for a long time, unless they seriously do something to hurt him or the people he cares about. He has a very strict policy about guys laying their hands on girls (believe it or not), anyone, seriously hurting a girl will be called out and/or beat up. He has a fun personality and can make it very easy to talk to him, like Oprah :D jk. He hardly ever gets angry and will joke about anything or everything. He's just one big fun person to be around ;D

_**Nationality: **_Japanese

_**Family:**_

Myoko Akazawa: 16: Dead by strangulation.

Renji Akazawa: 46: Dead by stabbing

_**Background:**_Was sent to a boarding school when he was young. When he came home at age 15 (and a half) he found his father beating his younger sister with a glass bottle. He tried to stop him but ended up killing him. His sister (Myoko age 16 now ) thinks that he was sent to prison/ Juvenal hall when he was really sent away to another part of the country. his mother died while giving birth to Myoko. In his new high school he started a new life and became the star football quarter back and the ladykiller of the school. He always thinks about Myoko though and hoped he would be reunited with her.

_**Description -**_

_**Hair:**_Light Brown. K-pop hair style

_**Eyes:**_Dark blue

_**Height:**_6'3

_**Clothing:**_School uniform which looks like Takashi's.

_**Markings/Tattoos/Piercings:**_N/A

_**Weapons –**_

_**School (temporary and realistic):**_Fire Hydrant

_**Main:**_Machete

_**Secondary: **_Butcher knife.

_**Strengths:**_Runs fast as hell, Is strong, funny sense of humor, above average eye sight.

_**Weaknesses:**_He's tall, he gets too attached to people, he can be a chatter box, he's perveted.

_**Fears:**_People he loves dying.

_**Likes:**_Girls, football, girls, boobies, and ramen.

_**Dislikes:**_Peanut butter, Pedos, bad cooking, and slow people.

_**Sexuality:**_Straight as a ruler (not the bendy ones!)

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with):**_Natsume Hitomi ;)

_**Misc:**_ I'll message you if i think of anything for this category

...

_**Name:**_Genesis Maria Loveless

_**Nickname:**_Geny or Gen Gen

_**Age:**_11

_**Gender:**_Female

_**Personality:**_She is a carefree girl who always has a smile on her face, no matter what. She smiles so others won't be sad or worry about her. She can make anyone smile and she has a good sense of humour. Has an innocent look about her but really she's far from it. Has a sadistic side that didn't come out until the world went to hell. Geny is prone at times to have breakdowns but only when people say or do something that will spark a flashback from her nightly beatings, such as: Someone shouts,"Shut the f*** up!"; calls somone a whore (dunno who would, though...); slapping will trigger it, as well as someone getting pushed; also verbal fighting. Afterwards she'll go into the corner and try and make herself the smallest object possible and hide her head. When that happens, trust in others is basically destroyed because she's scared to death and is reliving a flashback. She won't let anyone come near her.

_**Nationality: **_Japanese-American

_**Family:**_Mother (deceased); Father (turned)

_**Background:**_ An average student who got As and Bs with occasional Cs. Her mother died giving birth to her, so her dad was verbally abusive to her as she grew and would always yell at her whenever she got a C on her tests or report cards, which drove her to do better. She was always seeking attention and love from her father but that changed when he slapped her. So to rebel against him she dyed her bangs silver. On occasion she would sneak out at night to stay in a park that's nearby her house to get some peace and she rebels against her father a good portion of the time. The other portion of her time is hanging out with her friends and enjoying life to the fullest. She loves listening to music.

_**Description -**_

_**Hair:**_Short brown hair with silver dyed bangs

_**Eyes:**_Has heterochromia – one eye is green and the other is blue

_**Height:**_Average

_**Clothing:**_Since she is a rebel girl she likes punk type clothes, hangery and angry being her best clothing style (they are Japanese singers who have their own clothing line). Though when she's sleeping she likes baggy T-shirts and will wear shorts. She's most likely to steal one of the guys' extra shirts

_**Markings/Tattoos/Piercings:**_One ear pierce with a blue earring that looks like Yuna's from Final Fantasy 10

_**Weapons –**_

_**School (temporary and realistic):**_Middle school

_**Main:**_Two handguns that she keeps strapped on her

_**Secondary:**_A metal pipe she pulled off of her school roof (she's also a rule breaker and doesn't wear the uniform. Due to her grades, she's allowed to not wear it as long as her grades don't fall. It's one of the reasons she got bulled – that and her eyes were different.)

_**Strengths:**_Fast runner and great climber

_**Weaknesses:**_Her flexibility isn't that good

_**Fears:**_The dark (because since her dad abused her most of the abuse happened at night. Sometimes he would even pull her from sleep just to hit her) other fear doesn't like it when people raise hands. If they raise their hands like in a high five or to wave someone over Geny will flinch and cower away.

_**Likes:**_Pizza, ice-cream, drawing, skipping class and or school on occasion

_**Dislikes:**_her father, ruse people, Rei, Shido and his little followers

_**Sexuality:**_Straight

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with): **_Someone who's around her age and that likes her

_**Misc:**_ She always has a stuffed bunny with her it was her best friend during all the abuse and still is. It's purple and she calls it Bun Bun. She always has it with her. She takes it with her everywhere. She keeps it in her backpack along with her iPod, sketchbook and colouring utensils. That's all she ever has in school bag. She gets her school supplies from her locker in between classes. Other students know she has a stuffed bunny so they bully her over that as well, so she often goes to the roof when she feels like ditching and holds her toy close to her and asks, "Are you still my friend?"

...

_**Name -**_Kazuna Karube

_**Nickname::**_Kanna, Zuna-chan, Red

_**Age::**_16 (Turns 17 in Three Days)

_**Gender::**_Female

_**Personality::**_Kazuna is a seemingly innocent girl when you first get to meet her, seeing as she is somewhat socially awkward. But when you get to know her, she's a bit of a delinquent with a knack for adventure. She is seemingly everywhere when it comes to things that are to be done at night. But everyone rarely sees her serious, unless that moment is called for or if she's alone.

_**Nationality::**_Japanese

_**Family -**_

Rakanna Karube:: (Mother; "Them"; Deceased)

Shinpachi Karube:: (Father; "Them"; Deceased)

Daichi Karube:: (Older Brother; Alive; Unknown Location)

_**Background::**_Kazuna grew up the second child in her family and has grown to become best friends with her brother since most of her school friends were amongst each other more than around her - something she didn't mind. Whenever she had a problem that she felt she couldn't go to her parents with, Daichi was there to help. There was nothing that got between them that tore them apart for too long.

Kazuna was a Straight-A student in school, which causes people to question why she's not as uptight as "geniuses" should be. But the fact that she's socially awkward makes up for that reason. She was never one to speak unless spoken to, and made friends with people when they spoke to her. The only people she would talk to were friends, family, or teachers.

Majority of her free time, she would either sit outside and listen to her music or work in her mother's flower shop. Her friends never knew that she worked there because she wouldn't tell them, something about the job around flowers made her fear judgment. So she kept that to herself.

In school, the only thing she would get in trouble for was listening to music in class. The girl would give herself away with low humming. She had this thing for American rock groups, which helped her do many things - track, classwork and homework, her job, and other things that might cause her to snap at some point. She's actually a good singer, but she keeps her voice to herself unless she's at home in the privacy of her own room. She would never show that because the songs she sing are sung by men, yet the way she does it makes it seem mainly female.

Kazuna teases herself about that, but she'd never joke to a point where anyone would know other than Daichi.

_**Description -**_

_**Hair:: **_Long, mid-back length black hair with a side-swept bang to the left that she dyed dark red.

_**Eyes::**_Sky Blue

_**Height::**_5'7"

_**Clothing::**_She wears a bright red short-sleeved v-neck under a black halter vest, black jeans with a black and white zebra-print belt, and black & white Converse sneakers. Her sleepwear would be a spaghetti strap tank top and a pair of short shorts.

_**Markings/Tattoos/Piercings::**_None

_**Weapons –**_

_**School (temporary and realistic)::**_Crowbar

_**Main::**_A pistol sword she took from her house that came from her father and generations before him. It comes with a hilt that causes it to look like a cane. She mostly wields it as a sword than an actual gun, seeing as it would make noise.

_**Secondary::**_Frying Pan

_**Strengths::**_She is very catlike when it comes to climbing, so she's good with sneaking. She is also very flexible with cooking skills and a high endurance level (fast runner).

_**Weaknesses::**_She doesn't know how to use a big gun and isn't first to speak out towards new people. She also doesn't have the heart to kill children.

_**Fears::**_Losing someone close to her.

_**Likes::**_Food, Music, Climbing Trees, Nighttime and Rain/Misty Weather, Singing Alone, Motorcyles, Lightening Moods, and Meeting New People (although it may not seem like it by her personality)

_**Dislikes::**_Make-Up, Cherries, Orange as a Hair Dye, Surgery, Medical Movies, Hospitals, Mornings (not a morning person)

_**Sexuality::**_Straight

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with)::**_A guy who is sweet, genuine, and not one to fall back on his word. Kazuna is fine with him having faults because she knows that no one's perfect.

_**Misc::**_ None.

...

_**Name:**_Alexander "Alex" Maresato

_**Nickname:**_Alex

_**Age:**_12

_**Gender:**_Male

_**Personality:**_Alex is a very quiet boy, usually keeping to himself or staying in a small group of people so he can avoid conversation. He does this because he is self-conscious of how many questions he asks, but that's just part of his natural curiosity. He's very smart when it comes to things like mathematics and riddles, but lacks in physical strength due to the amount of sports he was restricted to do. Y'see, he has very poor eyesight when it comes to long distances and small words, and thus needs glasses to reach and has to keep away from sports like baseball and rugby – pretty much anything that involve something coming at him from a distance. Because of this fact, he often feels belittled by his friends' success in sports. Thankfully, though, he has his little sister Alice to keep him from going mad from his dilemma. Thanks to the amount of praise she constantly gave him and the unknown support she gave him, Alex still manages to be a sweet boy to people around him and polite when it comes to adults. There have been times when he's slipped out of that politeness, but it hadn't gone any further than asking more questions than he should. Alex is more or less a relaxed person, but can have his overprotective, cautious moments then and now.

_**Nationality:**_Japanese, and believed to be of another descent.

_**Family:**_Alice Maresato, alive, 7. His father is deceased, and had only introduced himself as "Maresato"

_**Background:**_Alex had a fairly decent upbringing, his parents keeping a watchful eye over him in case he bumped into something when he was younger. His father worked at a newspaper company up until Z-Day, and his mother stayed at home to raise him and Alice. They were next door neighbours to a student called Imamura, whom Alex used to talk to before leaving for school. Their conversations were short, but they soon knew each other enough to acknowledge each other when arriving from and leaving for school.

_**Description -**_

_**Hair:**_Red, kind of shaggy despite how short it is. Has a large portion that sticks up, which Alice often likes to play with whenever Alex sleeps.

_**Eyes**_: Purple

_**Height:**_Average

_**Clothing:**_Dark baggy pants, grey t-shirt, dark blue hooded jacket that is always unzipped, and a pair of sneakers. Later dons a grey beanie to keep Alice from playing with his hair

_**Markings/Tattoos/Piercings:**_A scar along his left forearm from when he'd broken it at age five. He'd been climbing a playground and couldn't make out the distance to the ground, thus resulting in him falling off and badly breaking his arm. He'd needed around thirty to forty stitches, and now there is only a long thin line to remind him of it.

_**Weapons –**_

_**School (temporary and realistic):**_None

_**Main:**_FN Browning M1910 – given to him to protect Alice after joining the main group.

_**Secondary:**_Anything he can swing

_**Strengths:**_Quick thinker, good with riddles, knows when to stay silent, surprisingly good balance

_**Weaknesses:**_Poor eyesight, overprotective of his sister, too curious when it comes to certain topics, very distanced from strangers

_**Fears:**_Breaking yet another limb, losing his sister

_**Likes:**_Video games, sleeping, quiet places, being relaxed

_**Dislikes:**_Being startled, sour food, small writing, his eyesight

_**Sexuality:**_Straight

_**What kind of person do they like (what kind would they be paired with):**_Just someone that's nice and won't judge others.

_**Misc:**_ Despite his poor eyesight, he refuses to wear glasses.

* * *

**So, there's the characters. Feel free to make changes, if you want to. First chapter is right after this. I shall try to update on a weekly basis, unless I lose the manga and have to use the anime (YouTube time!).**


	2. 1: From Kyuube to Fujimi

**First redone chapter. I guess I should say: "I hope you guys enjoy it." Also, sorry if Hisashi's last name is spelt wrong – I couldn't remember how to spell it and Wikipedia'd the characters -.-' And I apologise for how long this took.**

* * *

_Five minutes left_.

She stared up at the clock resting above the chalkboard, holding back a yawn as the teacher droned on and on about finding _x_ in the equation written on the board. Never in her life had she been so bored. Well, maybe once, when her family went out to one of the Western-style restaurants. Good Lord, they'd waited so long for their food.

Mr Maebara turned around to write something on the board, his words now reaching her ears as, "Blah, blah, blah, ramble, ramble, ramble; Yamamoto, can you answer the question?"

_What?_

She blinked, confused, and then cursed on the inside. Five minutes left and he called her up to answer a question. She couldn't stall for five minutes; not when _she _was the one that had to answer the question!

"C-Can you please repeat that?" she asked, pasting an innocent smile on her face.

He sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "You haven't been paying attention," he stated. "Yamamoto, come back here and work on it after school."

Miki forced back a groan as a chorus of giggles from girls in the classroom began. She had plans, and they were better than letters replacing numbers and hypotenuses and...and...

Damn mathematical terms. Why do they always have to use big words that no one can pronounce when they read it?

"Can anyone else solve it?" Mr Maebara asked the class. Instantly, a crowd of hands rose – including Mori's.

_No surprise there_, Miki thought.

"Yamamoto," Mr Maebara said, words to Mori. "Do you have an answer?"

Mori nodded and informed the teacher, "_X_ is equal to fifteen, sir."

Mr Maebara nodded and turned back to the chalkboard, writing down Mori's answer underneath the equation. "Correct," he said, turning back around. Miki dared another glance at the clock. The five minutes was just thirty seconds away from ending. As though sensing that she was staring at the time-telling item, Mr Maebara looked up at it. He let out a sigh. "Any of my students going on the excursion with Miss Himura may leave," he announced.

Glee overcame Miki. "Don't mind if I do, sir," she replied, standing and grabbing her things. Behind her, Mori stood also.

"Miki," he ordered, "stop making a scene."

She simply grinned at her brother and strutted out of the classroom, head held high and a big smile on her face. She'd be gone all day, right until she was due home. There was no way she'd be stuck in detention now!

As they walked down the hallway, a few more people came out of the classrooms – about four. Miki instantly recognised one of them.

"Hiro," Mori called out. The brunette boy froze and turned around, a grin on his face. Hiroshi Akazawa – he knew Miki through Mori, and even the intelligent twin had to admit he was the most perverted guy they'd ever met.

Hiro's grin grew. "Going my way?" he joked. Mori jogged over to him, leaving Miki behind, and struck up a conversation as they walked on. Miki stayed behind, a frown forming on her face as she walked alone.

* * *

Fujimi High, Miki had to admit, was pretty ritzy. Students were in matching uniforms, everyone seemed to get along. It was like the boring version of peace.

"Mr Yamamoto," the man behind the desk said. "You'll be spending the day with Miss Saya Takagi."

Mori nodded and bowed, leaving the room once the man gave him the room she was in. Next up was Miki, the last of the group that had arrived at Fujimi.

"Miss Yamamoto, you'll be with..." He pushed his glasses up his nose and read over the name twice. "Mr Takashi Komuro."

The Yamamoto girl clenched a hand tightly and then left once the man gave her the class Komuro was meant to be in. Miki was almost laughing by the time she was in the hall that led to the boy's class – what luck that they had met just a week before, at the local pool. She was already ahead of her fellow students by a week.

_That feels odd to think_, she wondered. _Me? Ahead of everyone else? Blasphemy, I tell you!_

And who was she telling? Miki shook her head with a grin. Man, she was weird sometimes.

After a few minutes of walking, she spotted the classroom Komuro was supposed to be in, and – as expected – the boy was nowhere in sight. Miki did manage to spot Hiro, though, hanging out with a silver-haired boy. He must've been Hisashi Igo, the student that was to show Hiro around.

Ignoring the classroom and continuing on, Miki considered Komuro not being in class a good thing. She could just have a stroll through the school, see what was what. Just do her usual thing. It wasn't long until she actually spotted the boy she was meant to meet, and she couldn't help but dare a grin when she walked in his direction.

Takashi Komuro was leaning casually and depressingly against the railing of the stairway. He was watching the ground below, not bothering to look up as she settled next to him and tried to follow his eyes' sight.

"Long time, no see," she greeted. Komuro merely glanced her way, unsure of what to do, and then looked back to where he had previously been watching. Miki gave him a shrug and yawned. She probably should've spent more time sleeping last night rather than YouTube-ing her favourite songs by Miku Hatsune. Then again, listening to _Black Rock Shooter_ was worth it.

With another shrug, she pushed away from the railing and glanced around the area. There was nothing of note that she could spot that seemed interesting. She turned back around and leaned on the railing again. Komuro didn't seem inclined to do anything else other than that, and the two stood in silence for ten painful minutes. It wasn't until they were greeted by someone that they looked away.

"Sup, Komuro. Skipping again?" he asked with a grin.

Miki cast a glance at him. He had short blonde hair, light green eyes. The grin he had was friendly, like he knew Komuro personally.

"Hey Morita," Komuro replied, yawning as he turned to the student. Morita's grin fell into a small smile. He turned to Miki.

"You must be a student from Kyuube High," Morita observed, giving her a once-over and seeming to recognise her uniform.

Kyuube High uniforms were a little different from most schools in the area, the uniform for girls being without the sailor collar and ridiculously short skirt. Instead, girls like Miki wore a mauve jacket over a dark navy skirt, and a white button-down shirt was underneath the jacket. Their ties were a darker mauve than the jacket, and on the end was the symbol of the school – a small hawk perched on a branch.

"Nice eye," Miki replied. She held out a hand. "I'm Yamamoto." Morita took her hand, a confused look on his face. She added, "My brother and I both came here – we're twins. Feel free to call me by my first name, so you don't get confused."

"Nah," Morita laughed. "I'll just call you Yamamoto-chan, instead."

Miki's left eye twitched, annoyance coming over her at the sound of "chan" being put after her name.

Morita turned away from her and focused on Komuro, that same grin finding him again. Komuro returned it. "You too?" Komuro asked him. "I didn't sleep so well last night and I just couldn't stay cooped up in a classroom."

Both Morita and Komuro glanced at Miki, who shrugged and said with a grin, "I just suffered through mathematics at _my_ school and barely grazed past a detention. I'm not going into another classroom until tomorrow."

The blonde turned back to Komuro, pointing to him lightly. "You just got denied by some girl too...right" he asked. "There are some rumours flying around. And some chick that got held back is going out with Igo."

Miki blinked. "You don't mean Hisashi Igo, do you?" she asked. Morita nodded. The girl let out a small laugh. "Oh, poor guy is gonna get it when Hi– Akazawa finds out." _Damn it, almost called one of _Mori's_ friends by their first name..._

"Yeah, Igo said that Miyamoto made the decision to stay back on her own."

The Yamamoto girl scrunched her nose up, unsure she heard right. "Seriously?" she scoffed.

"If that's true..." Komuro turned to the window. "Man, how annoying. Whatever. Igo seems like a good guy. He's good-looking, smart and good at sports. It all comes naturally for him."

"Yeah..." Morita looked like he was at a loss for words, as though he were unable to think of anything else to say. "Erm... Uh..."

"I'm gonna go take a nap on the roof," Takashi decided. He glanced at Miki. "You feel like coming, Yamamoto?"

Miki grinned. "Dude, I'd gladly skip class to sleep."

The two turned to leave. Morita said his goodbye by stating, "I'm gonna hide out at the dorms. See you later Komuro. Enjoy your time here, Yamamoto-chan."

* * *

"And we're back where we started," Miki said to herself. "Not that I can complain – boredom is fun; gives you a reason to _think_ and _do_."

Komuro shrugged, leaning over the railing once again. The sight from the rooftop was quite a good one, the sakura trees painting the outside world pink with the endless blossoms that floated around. A small wind blew toward them, the smell of plants and their sweetness lightly washing over them. This was what Miki considered to be an upside to skipping; the world was so much quieter and welcoming without the rush of busy people blocking it out. It was a shame that every day wasn't like today – the waves would be small and easy to ride, relaxing and barely worth the trouble of trophies.

A groan escaped Miki as she hung her arms and head over the rails. A small strain came from the muscles under her shoulders. "Now I wanna surf," she complained. She blinked, turned to Komuro with an apologetic smile. "Sorry about my endless complaints. I usually just leave school altogether and surf on days like this." Her smile grew. "I was actually planning on surfing today – and then Mori reminded me that we had the student swap today."

Komuro didn't reply, but nodded in understanding. He seemed to want to leave school as well, but his eyes lacked that spark of impulsiveness that made you walk out of the gate with your head held high. He just seemed lazy, unresponsive. If he were in hospital, he'd probably be lumped with the catatonic patients. He was just so quiet and thoughtful. Too bad Miki never had the patience to be like him, to just stare and wonder "what if?" or think about random bits of life.

More wind blew, causing Miki's hair to whip over her eyes. She shook her head a little, face clear of the brown stings, and she stared out ahead of her. The cherry blossoms from the sakura trees were headed in their direction. Some of them lifted as high as the roof, while a small quantity reached the two skippers. A few caught in Miki's hair, gracefully tangling and untangling as the wind continued to blow.

"They're floating all the way over here," Komuro said to himself. His tone, like his expression, was tired and distant. A pained expression reached him, and he went on, "What a load of bull. 'Cross your heart and hope to die'."

"What?"

His head snapped up at the sound of footsteps. Miki followed his line of sight, spotting three teachers storming out toward the school gates. Someone outside was leaning against it, bumping it with every few leans. There was a small rattle on the iron as they leaned.

The female teacher there raised a hand to her face, pushing up her glasses. She was asking something of the person, a hand on her hip in a demanding position. A teacher behind her held a stick that split near the end, forming a sort of horseshoe shape. Miki couldn't remember what it was called...

"Who's that?" Miki wondered. "Outside the school – is it some creep?"

The teacher began yelling at the man. Miki could hear her loudly as she screamed, "Stop it! If you don't we'll call the police and–"

Another teacher, this one male, held a hand in front of her. He said something and rolled up his sleeves (Miki could assume his words were cocky) and then strolled over to the man at the gate. His hand shot through the gap in the iron and grasped the man outside on the collar of his shirt.

"Listen here, you son of a–" He yanked the man toward him, the man's head smashing into the gate. Something flew out of his mouth. Miki tried to lean forward and get a better look, but all she succeeded in doing was pushing the rail into her stomach.

The female teacher investigated what had fallen from the man's mouth, quickly letting out a shriek when she realised what they were. "_Fingers! Police! Call the police!_"

The male teacher that held onto the man let out a loud yelp, and the skippers quickly turned their attention back to him. He arm had been pulled through the gate, the man outside clutching it like it was a cure for death and sinking his teeth into it. He gnawed at the arm, then let go all of a sudden. Miki glanced at Komuro, who checked her way as well. Both of them were horrified, pale.

A bit chunk of arm was missing from the teacher's arm, the bone somewhat exposed. "Holy shit," Miki breathed. "I had not expected this to happen today."

"He ate my arm!" the teacher screamed. "Stop the blood! For God's sake, stop the blood! Get the school nurse! Call the police! An ambulance!"

Miki shuddered, as well as Komuro. Blood was seeping out like a tap that had been switched on. It would not stop, no matter how much force they used. The man thrashed around, moaning and groaning. Miki could taste bile in the back of her mouth. Before she knew it, she was stumbling away from the edge and on her knees, leaning on her hands for support as she threw up her breakfast and what remained on her previous dinner.

Komuro was by her side instantly. "You okay, Yamamoto?" he asked, a hand on her shoulder. When she finished, she waved a hand and coughed, giving him permission to keep watching the teachers. His hand left her shoulder almost instantly, his footsteps carrying him over to his previous spot.

Groans and moans from the teacher were no longer heard. Miki looked up, pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, and stared at the scene below. The man was no longer moving, the other teachers watching him with shocked expressions. A man had just died in front of them, and all they could do was stare. At least Miki had the decency to throw up over having a huge chunk bitten off of living flesh.

"Oh, shit," she groaned, clamping a hand over her mouth.

The man suddenly jerked, his hand twitching as the teachers shocked expressions turned into relief. "Are you all right?" the female teacher asked loudly. She went to say something else, but was cut off when he reached for her. He grabbed her shirt and pulled himself up, baring his teeth as his mouth was aimed for her jugular.

Both Komuro and Miki stared at them, mouths agape as Miki slowly rose to her feet. Komuro turned on his heel and grabbed her arm, dragging her away as he made a beeline for the nearest door. All the while, Miki muttered to herself, "Holy shit, what the fuck just happened?"

* * *

**Oke oke... Like I said in my author note in FOTD, there will be some changes in this. Again, I am so, so, **_**so**_** sorry that I took longer than expected to write this. This is how each chapter will be written out, though, and I hope it's an improvement.**

**Well, I'll see you guys next chapter. Oh, and owners of the characters should expect and quiz about new character questions soon.**

**~Miki**


	3. 2: Escape To The Roof

**I get the nagging urge to keep writing this until I'm caught up with my fan fiction **_**Survival**_**... Or at least until I'm a few chapter into it.**

**And here's the second chapter. It's here you'll notice a few (*cough* a lot *cough*) of changes.**

**(While I wrote this, I sent out questions for the characters – they're different from the last ones, and some characters have changed enough for people to have different opinions on them. You'll understand why a certain canon character isn't on the list after this.)**

**~Miki**

* * *

She didn't know where he was leading her, but it was better than outside. He'd let go of her arm a little while ago, and was leading the way as he ran down the halls. Miki was panting a little, a sign she needed to get some more exercise in her daily routine. Komuro was still ahead of her.

They arrived at the classroom that held Igo and Hiro, as well as the girl Miki could only assume was Miyamoto.

Komuro burst inside and strolled in casually, but a panicked expression was still on his face.

"Ah, Komuro," the teacher said. Miki glanced at him from the door, unsure of whether or not she should go in with her buddy. The teacher was tall, with short, neat black hair and brown eyes. He was wearing what any teacher in a well-respected private school would wear: A suit. Although, his was grey, instead of black, and his shirt was black, instead of white. "I see you've finally decided to come to class." He glanced at Miki. "And you've brought your buddy from Kyuube High School. Would you both care to take a seat?"

There was no sarcasm in his voice. He was being sincere, patient. If only Mr Maebara was like this respectable man.

"Ah, sorry, sir," Miki said. "We were, uh–"

"We have to go," Komuro's voice cut in. He was ignoring the teacher, focusing on a girl with long orange-brown hair. She watched him with confusion.

"Huh?" she replied. Hiro and Igo glanced their way, Miki forgotten for the moment.

_Good,_ she thought. _Now I can check if I have vomit on my chin_.

She wiped at her mouth, feeling something wet come off. Sure enough, a light stain was on her sleeve.

Komuro grabbed Miyamoto's hand and pulled her out of her seat. Or, at least, he _attempted to_.

"Come on," he urged. "We've just gotta get out of here."

"What do you think you're doing?" she yelled at him. "I'm in the middle of a class and–"

"It doesn't matter!"

A pink-haired girl slammed her hands on her desk, standing at a rapid pace while Igo and Hiro stood, making their way to Komuro. "What do you think you're doing, Komuro?" the pinkie yelled. Miki immediately knew she had an annoying voice.

Igo made it to Komuro, and Miki speed-walked into the room to join them. She stood near the boys, Hiro the closest to her. The rest of the students laughed and made it all sound like a failed confession of love. At least they didn't know their teachers were cannibals.

Igo snatched Komuro's hand away from Miyamoto's. "What do you think you're doing?" he hissed, trying not to speak too loud. Miki couldn't help but stare at Igo's hair colour. Silver... Sort of...grey-silver...

She snapped out of her stare when Hiro nudged her arm. "What's going on, Miki?" he asked. Miki raised an eyebrow.

"We're friends?" she asked with a grin, trying to mask the fact that she'd seen someone die and then come back to life in a horrific show of terror. Whoa – she needed to stop listening in Creative Writing classes.

"Don't kid with me," Hiro warned. "What's wrong?"

Komuro already seemed to be explaining it to Igo, but Miyamoto was being left out. It was now or never, do or die. "A teacher got bitten by some guy outside and now everyone's for dinner." She paused, thinking. "Actually, lunch."

"Zombies?" Hiro scoffed. He poked her forehead a few times. She blinked with every poke. "Are you on something, Cheeky?"

She frowned. Miki replied in a royal voice, "I be not, perve. Now, desist your infernal poking."

"Wait a second!" Miyamoto shouted. Hiro and Miki snapped their heads to the other three, just in time to see Komuro slap Miyamoto across the cheek. Hiro's jaw dropped while Miki's hand flew to her cheek.

"Komuro!" the teacher yelled. Heads whipped toward the teacher, whose face was filled with anger. "What is the meaning of this?"

The teacher left his desk and walked over – stormed, actually – to the group of five. Anger was gone, replaced by demand.

"Well?" he asked. Komuro and Igo glanced at each other, unsure if they should tell him, until Miki spoke up.

She muttered, "Teachers are eating each other. Like, actually _eating_ each other."

The teacher gave them a confused stare, then rubbed the back of his neck and sighed in frustration.

"And you were going to leave the school?"he confirmed. Komuro shrugged. "I'm sure this is just a prank–"

"But who would be watching?" Hiro cut in. "Don't get me wrong, sir, Yamamoto is one of the cheekier kids at my school – but I know when she's serious about something. She doesn't bullshit about stuff like this, unless her brother is present. And, correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't he leave for the library just a half-hour ago?"

The teacher gave Hiro a hard stare, trying to find out if he was lying or not. Finally, he sighed again. "Fine," he decided. "But I will come with you to see some proof."

Komuro narrowed his eyes, looked away in annoyance. It was clear that he'd only come for Miyamoto, no one else.

His friend, Igo, said, "Thank you, Mr Mishima." He turned to Komuro, who was still showing his annoyance, and then looked to Miki. "Where did this happen?"

* * *

They were running once more, teacher with them and three more students gained. Miki could figure out that Komuro wasn't leading them to the spot; she wasn't even planning on leading them there. If she wanted to leave the world, she'd die surfing, dammit! Not getting eaten by a friggin zombie!

"Explain to me what happened," Mr Mishima said. "It could just be a misunderstanding."

Komuro was less reluctant to reply this time. "Something happened at the gate."

Miyamoto scoffed. Her cheek was red, her hand massaging it lightly. "That's _it_?" she demanded. "Something happened at the gate?"

"Someone was outside, banging on the gate," Miki cut in. They didn't have time for this. "Three teachers went to investigate; a stupid one tried to be a manly-man; he got bitten; he died; he came back to fucking like; he bit another teacher – whom I assume bit the other one – and now they're all eating people. Happy?"

"That's just ridiculous!"

"Fine, then! Go die by ravenous hordes of teachers!"

Mr Mishima cleared his throat. "There is a teacher present, Yamamoto."

Ah, right. He was there. "No offense to the English teacher."

"I'll try not to take any."

Igo skidded to a stop, right in front of some closets and cupboards. He opened the door to the tallest one, then said, "Stop," and reached inside. Everyone came to a halt, staring at him as he pulled out a broom and baseball bat. Inside were two fire extinguishers, both of which were handed to Miki and Hiro. The two glanced at each other, but Miki could understand what was going on.

"Weapons," she stated. Igo nodded firmly. He twisted on the broom and the pole snapped off of the bristles. He handed it to Miyamoto, who shook her head defiantly.

"How do we know Takashi isn't doing this to impress Yamamoto?" she growled.

"Dude," Miki said slowly, appalled. "I was _there_."

"Well, it could be like what Mr Mishima said – it could just be a prank!"

"Like I said, who would see?"

"Girls, girls," Hiro said, holding his hands between them. "Now is not the time to be fighting over me."

Both glared at him, different methods of mutilating him with a fire extinguisher running through Miki's mind. Hiro drew back his hands and held his fire extinguisher, a serious look on his face.

"So, we just go ahead, then?" he assumed, looking to Igo and Komuro for guidance.

Igo nodded firmly, leading the way. He froze three confident steps later as the PA system came to life.

"_Attention, all students and teachers! Attention, all students and teachers! At the present time there is a violent struggle occurring on the premises. Students, stay with your teachers and follow their instructions!_"

Everyone let out a breath, save for Mr Mishima and Miyamoto. "Finally, they know," Komuro muttered.

"_Repeat, at the present time there is a–_" The voice announcing that everyone stay inside was cut off, a scream replacing the voice. Tearing and moans, as well as shrieks from the announcer. "_Help me! Stop!_" Another scream, and then there was silence. The chattering from the classrooms was gone, as was the sound of people outside in P.E.

It was just silence.

"Someone say something," Miki whispered, shocked. Her eyes were wide, her stance frozen from the obvious fact that it was _in_ the school.

Finally, sound came. More screams, this time from students, alerted them. Students piled out of the classrooms, pulling hair, kicking backs, punching faces, even jumping out windows! Mass hysteria was an unpleasant thing, indeed.

A thought came to Miki. It was a horrible thought to behold. "Where's Mori?" she asked slowly.

Igo and Komuro glanced at each other, then at Mr Mishima. The three shared a silent conversation, nodding, and then they turned in a different direction from last time. As they passed the closet, Komuro snatched out a baseball bat. The girls and Hiro followed.

"Weren't we going to escape?" Miyamoto asked, suddenly afraid.

"The classroom building is full of people trying to get out," Mr Mishima explained. "We need to get out through the administration building."

"Good call," Hiro remarked. Miyamoto walked on Miki's right, frowning, barely noticing anything beside her.

Miki looked ahead of them, spotting someone stumble out of a room up ahead. He was covered in blood.

"Isn't that Wakisaka from Current Events?" Miyamoto asked from behind Miki. She'd dropped back a bit in her run.

"Is he going to try stop us?" Komuro asked anyone. Wakisaka took a step forward, revealing his entire face. His jaw was slack, looking dislocated, and his eyes were blindly facing anywhere. He let out a wheezed breath as he took another step. Mr Mishima gritted his teeth and turned on his heel.

"Other way," he commanded. The students turned around, only for Miyamoto to scream in terror. A student was behind them, hand gripping her arm tightly, and pulling her toward him. He looked just like Wakisaka.

Miki gripped her fire extinguisher tightly and ran forward, just as he sank his teeth into Miyamoto's arm. Blood splashed out, sprays of red between her arm and his teeth. Miki raised the extinguisher high above her head and slammed it down on his head, knocking him clear off of Miyamoto and sending him to the ground with a slam. When he was on the ground, the Kyuube High student gasped at the damage she'd done. Half of his head was dented, blood bubbling out of it like it was some kind of magic potion.

"You okay, Miyamoto?" she asked the bitten girl. Miyamoto cradled her arm with a shudder, disbelief in her eyes. "Well," Miki added with a smile, "at least we know it isn't Komuro trying to impress someone."

No one laughed, but no one scolded her. Instead, Igo and Komuro rushed to Miyamoto's side.

"Rei, are you all right?" Igo asked, panicked. Komuro just looked to her for an answer, concern written all over him. Hiro walked over to Miki and patted her on the shoulder.

"Nice job, Cheeky," he praised, grinning. His finger twitched.

"You're feeling for a strap, aren't you?" Miki asked grimly.

"You know me so well!"

All that earned was a smack to the head. "Pervert," she grumbled, stalking over to Miyamoto. Mr Mishima had joined them. He'd torn off some of his jacket and was wrapping it around Miyamoto's arm, frowning at the damage.

It was a shame they'd forgotten Wakisaka...

A battle cry came from Hiro, gaining everyone's attention, and the sight before them was bizarre – Hiro was standing over the body of Wakisaka, fire extinguisher raised cautiously over his head. Hiro poked the unmoving student with his foot, glaring at it.

"This isn't gonna be like _Terminator_, is it?" he speculated. "Quick, someone check for red eyes!"

Miki groaned at him and turned to the group again, asking them, "What next?"

Moans cut them off, causing all six to turn around. More people were coming, all of them like Wakisaka and the student. They were all reaching for them, dead stares in their eyes. How was this even happening?

"We can't stay here much longer," Igo decided. He handed the broom handle to Miyamoto, who took it gratefully.

"This way," she said, taking the lead. "We can take the stairs to the first floor."

She broke into a sprint, leaving everyone no choice but to follow. She ran with the other behind her, skidding to a stop as Igo had earlier. When Miki was next to her, she asked what was wrong, only to be cut off by the fear written in Miyamoto's eyes.

Screams were coming from down below, just past the stairs, and moans and groans were close behind.

"We can't..." Komuro was just as horrified. "Not with that many classmates down below."

Footsteps were speeding up from the stairs, puffs of a survivor running. Miki peered down, then sucked in a breath when familiar purple hair caught her eye.

"We have to leave, _now_," she said.

"Hey! Wait!" the survivor called. Soon enough, she was in full view. Ami Tokugawa finished scaling the stairs, puffing and a layer of sweat over her forehead. Her bright eyes were full of hope, and her normally-neat ponytail was almost undone, her hair tie dangling near the end of her shoulder blades. "Thank God," she breathed.

Everyone in the group ignored her for a moment, turning their heads up. That was the only way to go – up.

_And here I thought I'd be walking through Hell_, Miki thought with a small smile.

"Let's go," Mr Mishima ordered, running for the stairs with the group – and Ami – in tow. He burst through the door and ran into the light of day, followed by his students and the Kyuube High swaps. Ami was keeping pace with Miki, much to the other girl's displeasure, but all that washed away when they caught sight of the world beyond the school. The rooftop was empty, but that was sure to change soon. None of that mattered, though.

Tokunosu, or what was left of it, was in shambles. Screams, cars honking their horns, _smoke and fire_, for crying out loud! It was all just...lost. That was the only word to describe it – everything was _lost_; be it in the head or in physical form, it was all _lost_.

"What the hell is going to happen, now?" Komuro asked, staring at it with eyes as wide as everyone else's.

"What do you mean, 'What is going to happen, now'?" Miyamoto demanded. "I mean, this morning– No, just now, had anyone thought about how we take everything for granted–"

Air being cut caught her to break off mid-sentence. The wind picked up, hitting them hard, and then they were met by four – no, five helicopters flying past. Miki stared in awe, Igo shielded Miyamoto from the fierce winds, and everyone else was forgotten.

Hope replaced the sadness, the despair, the fear. Ami, as though reading everyone's thoughts, ran forward and waved her arms in desperation.

"Hey!" she screamed, smiling. "Over here!"

The helicopters ignored her, flying by without giving them a second glance.

"It's useless," Igo reminded her. Ami frowned, almost scowled, and turned around to direct it at him.

"They're definitely here on specific orders, and they aren't big enough to carry us with them. And besides," Igo added, "look down there."

Their eyes travelled down to the schoolyard, a gasp escaping the frowning girl. Miki's heart was pounding in her chest, almost breaking free. She couldn't breathe. She tasted bile again, but swallowed what threatened to come up.

Red. Students were red, the ground was red, the whole damn school was slick with red. And all of it was blood...

More so, there were still some survivors out there, being eaten alive and screaming for help. One poor guy was trying to scale a pile of P.E. equipment, but his leg was caught and he was soon eaten.

She squatted down and wrapped her arms around her legs, bringing her knees to her chin.

The worst thing?

Mori was still inside.

* * *

**(And now you see why Rei wasn't on the canon character list. Don't fret about Kohta, I just forgot to put him down -.-)**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, too~!**

**~Miki**


	4. 3: Other Survivors

**A big packet of Tic Tacs and a frozen Coke… I'm afraid to devour the two at the same time…**

**Heh... I noticed a few people were happy Rei was bitten :3 you guys aren't the only ones (is it just me, or does she whine as much as she bashes zombies?)**

**So, here's the next chapter. I'll try to make it longer than the other two, as I plan to introduce a few of the characters in snippets that introduce the remaining canon characters. (I feel like that sentence doesn't make sense...)**

**~Miki**

* * *

They'd barricaded themselves at the observatory, the girls from Kyuube keeping quiet while Hiro watched the scenes below and the Fujimi students and teacher discussed what was happening. Igo was stating – with the calmest face Miki had ever seen – what this was like. Even though Hiro had scoffed the word, Igo was making it very clear that that same word was the source of their new problem. But he didn't refer to them as zombies. He just called them..."them".

"Uh, hey," Ami whispered, creeping over to Miki with her phone in her hand. A small purple bird was dangling from a black string attached to the corner of her phone. The lid was flipped up, the screen lit. "Your, uh..." Ami gestured to Miki's hair, frowning. "It's turned white."

"What?"

Ami held the phone out for Miki to see, their rivalry forgotten for the moment. On the screen was a picture of Miki, after they'd stacked the tables and held them there with some sort of tape. Miki was standing behind the students and Mr Mishima, hands crossed in front of her, and sure enough the entire right side of her fringe had turned solid white.

"I read somewhere that shock can make hair turn white," Ami told her. Miki handed her the phone back, frowning and pushing some of her hair behind her ear. The blue-eyed girl turned her attention to the guys and Rei, about to ask them something. She was cut off, wide-eyed as she stared at what was happening.

It had only been two hours since they'd sealed the horde of "them" trying to knock down their barricade, and now Igo's theory was being proven right. Miki's head snapped up as Miyamoto let out a heavy cough, deep in her throat as blood spluttered out through her fingers.

"Rei!" Komuro fretted. He turned to Igo, panicked. It was the most active Miki had seen him ever since she met him. "Hisashi, she was only bitten. Why is she–?"

"It's just like in the movies," Igo cut in, sadly watching Miyamoto. "One bite, and you're done."

Miyamoto was practically crying, tears running out her eyes as blood slowly dripped out from the corners of her mouth.

"Hisashi," she wept, "I'm scared! Help me!" She coughed again, slamming her fist against a wall as she crashed into it. "It can't be like in the movies! It just can't!"

"It _is_." Igo's tone was firm, making everyone unable to disagree with him. Even Mr Mishima, the one with the most authority in the group and the only teacher present, could not disagree with the student.

"Then..." Miyamoto stared at him blankly, tears and blood mixing like food dye and water. "What do we–"

She coughed, deeper than last time, buckling over with the force of it as she fell to her hands and knees. To think, Miki had been in the same position earlier, just throwing up what was in her stomach. Miyamoto, on the other hand, looked as though she were throwing up her stomach itself.

Puddles of blood were pooling around her. They grew with each drop that fell from her.

"Rei," Igo said, "you're going to be okay. When you go, we'll toss you over the edge. The impact will kill you – kill you more than you will be – and you won't become like 'them'. You'll just stay dead."

"I don't wanna die!"

Her hand shot out and grabbed Igo's leg, slowly moving up as Igo knelt down beside her. It finished on his shoulder, clutching him tighter than Miki had even seen someone hold something.

"I'm scared..."

In the slow moment of silence that followed, Miki was able to take in her surroundings. People were still screaming, "they" were still moaning, Miyamoto was still turning. Hiro had moved away from the group, opting to stand a little away from where Ami and Miki were crouched down, trying to hide from the slowly dying world; Mr Mishima had taken a few steps back, seeming to accept unwillingly that Miyamoto was going to die one way or another; Komuro had also taken a step back, but was still keeping close to Miyamoto and Igo.

Miyamoto coughed out one last, loud cough, blood pouring out of her mouth like a fountain, and then she fell limply to the ground.

Igo and Komuro acted quickly.

Miki couldn't bear to watch. She kept her eyes on the sky above her, the smoke from Tokunosu clouding it like a dark fog.

_Hello, world,_ she thought. _I'm Miki Yamamoto. I'm alive, and I'm probably close to dying sometime soon. How are things on your end?_

* * *

"Looks like we're in trouble, Rin," Shizuka said, pointing a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "The police and the fire fighters won't pick up at all."

"And I saw you perform that medical examination," Rin chimed in, frowning as the student with them pounded away at the body they were referring to. It wasn't really a dead body anymore, but like a, well, _undead_ body.

"After I examined him, he turned into the living dead," Shizuka went on. "It's like a low-budget horror movie, if you ask me."

There was a cry of frustration from the student, who turned to the two women with a fluster of waving arms. "We don't have time, Ms Marikawa, Miss Himura!" he reminded them. "And I really don't see how both of you are fascinated by this!"

Shizuka let out a sigh, climbing onto a desk and reaching up toward her display cabinet. Rin stayed behind her, ready to catch the ditzy nurse if she slipped. "Hold on, just a second," Shizuka said calmly. "I just have to get something..."

"Please, move a little more quickly–"

The glass behind the student shattered, the door bursting open from the force on the other side. Hands reached in, trying to grasp something, and bodies stumbled into the room. All of them groaned and moaned, just like a cliché zombie. Shizuka and Rin stared at them, the student making his way to them in order to defend them.

Thinking fast, Rin dashed for the fire extinguisher under Shizuka's desk. She returned to her friend with it, the nozzle aimed at the students attempting to reach them, but despair weighed at her when she realised she was too late to save their saviour. He screamed in pain as one student bit deep into his arm, and all he did was turn to the teacher and the nurse and shout, "Teachers, run while you still can!"

Shizuka was worried about something, dilly-dallying with her question. "Erm, um," she started. "What did you say your name was?"

Before he could answer, he was tackled to the ground by another student. They knew Shizuka and Rin were in the room, and all Rin could think of was a way to slow them down.

_A fire extinguisher in general contains water, water with additives, Dry Chemicals, gasses, and steaming gasses_, she thought. _This fire extinguisher contains carbon dioxide in the form of foam, which means it can be slippery on a tiled or wood floor. This floor is wood – just my luck. If they walk on it, they'll slip from the lack of friction between their feet and the floor!_

Not wasting a second, Rin fired the contents of the extinguisher at the floor in front of the students. A few went down straight away, slipping like a cartoon character walking on a banana peel, but many managed to drag their feet along without even slipping once.

They advanced on Shizuka and Rin, cornering them. Just as Rin was about to bash one away from Shizuka with the empty extinguisher, someone strolled into the room. She was normal-looking – as normal as students could be, at the moment. Long purple hair, blue eyes, a serious look on her face. She wore the Fujimi girls' uniform, and in her hand was a wooden kendo sword.

The newcomer continued to stroll inside, gracefully and effectively hitting each of the students over the head with the wooden sword. Each one went down, lifeless, and barely moved afterwards.

The newcomer turned her attention to the women's saviour, who was on the floor and covered in his own blood. He was panting, and it was a visible strain for him to keep himself upright.

"I'm the President of the Keno Club, Saeko Busujima," the newcomer introduced. "What is your name?"

He sucked in a breath and managed, "Kazu... Ishii..."

"Ishii," Busujima said, laying a hand on his shoulder. "You did a good job in protecting Ms Marikawa and Miss Himura. I admire your courage." Busujima paused, meeting his eyes. "Do you know what happens to those who are bitten?"

Rin hurried to Shizuka's side, helping the nurse with what she needed to grab.

"Do you want your friends and family to see you like that?" Busujima went on. "I've never killed before, but I will help you."

Ishii smiled, relieved. "Please," he begged. "Do it."

"Huh?" Shizuka cut in, fazed by this sudden request. "What are you doing? You can't–"

Busujima held up a hand, silencing the blonde woman. "Nurse, please don't interfere," she said. "This is a matter of a man's pride." She lowered the hand, readied the wooden kendo sword to strike. "To sit idly by like a woman is not my style."

She struck Ishii's head with a fatal blow, his blood splattering the window behind him. The student was dead and gone, free from the danger that waited outside.

* * *

It was a wonder what a fire hose could do in a zombie apocalypse. Especially when wielded by a few people with good aim.

Komuro smiled at the damage done, glancing at Igo. "Nice job, thinking to use the fire hose," he praised. Ami let out a relieved breath and dropped the part of the hose she was holding.

"We're almost home free," she sighed happily. "Isn't it great?"

Igo glanced at her, doubtful. "With everything that's happened, can you really call it great?" he asked quietly. That caught Ami off guard, and she merely crossed her arms in front of her chest, frowning.

Hiro was at her side in seconds. "You know you push them up when you do that," he pointed out, grinning like a sly fox. Ami immediately went red and pulled the open part of her shirt to her neck.

"Get lost, perve!" she snapped. Hiro raised his hands in surrender, mock-sadness on his face as he took a single step away from Ami. Out of the corner of her eye, Miki could faintly see Mr Mishima shaking his head in disapproval at the perverted teen.

Miki sighed in exasperation, also dropping the part she was holding. Trust Hiro to point out something like that in a zombie apocalypse.

Handing the wooden handle that had once been wielded by Miyamoto, Komuro handed the broom handle to Igo with a neutral expression, not a word exchanged between the two friends. It was like there was some sort of strain between the two, some kind of awkward insecurity about what to say next.

Igo began to lead the way down the stairs, Komuro behind and Ami following closely.

_Feh,_ Miki thought venomously. _I'll bet she stabs us in the back and abandons us for a "better" group of survivors._

"Where do we go, now?" Ami asked as Mr Mishima and the Kyuube students followed the three. She was directing her question mostly at Komuro and Igo, but seemed to want to settle for anyone else's answer.

The Yamamoto girl scoffed. "Leave the school?" she replied in an 'isn't-it-obvious' tone. Ami turned around and glared at her, her bright blue eyes turning brighter from the icy look, and then she turned her attention back to boys in front. Komuro began making a suggestion as to where to go, just as Hiro leaned toward Miki.

"So, how do you know Hooters over there?" he asked quietly. From behind them, Mr Mishima cleared his throat. Hiro turned his head lazily, walking slightly sideways.

"Akazawa, please stop talking in such a way about a young woman," he growled. "It's just downright rude."

He walked a little faster, overtaking Miki and Hiro with long strides. Hiro grinned.

"I'm just appreciating the fact that she has melons for boobs," he replied loud enough for the teacher to hear. Mr Mishima either ignored the perve or didn't hear him, but either way Miki was glad Hiro was more focused on defending his case.

"At least you're off my back about my choice of swimsuit," Miki muttered under her breath. She quickly regretted saying it.

Hiro ruffled the hair that was free of her ponytail. "Only to move on to the front," he teased with a smirk.

"You know, there have been times where I'm tempted to let Mori murder you and throw you into a room full of turkeys," she warned, swatting away his hand angrily. Hiro raised an eyebrow.

"Turkeys?" he repeated. "Why not chickens?"

"Because a chicken won't maul you while gobbling like an idiot." With that, she picked up her pace and began to walk next to Komuro, hearing Hiro make his way to Ami with a giddy look on his face. Miki rolled her eyes and continued to walk, annoyance barely ignored by her need to escape the zombie-infested school.

* * *

Geoffrey stared at the pink-haired girl with narrowed eyes, hands in his pockets as Hirano nervously tried to coax the girl away from the sinks. Takagi wasn't having any of it, though, and dunked a wash cloth into a water-filled bucket. When the cloth was soaked, she rolled it up and hurled it at the student stumbling around near the lockers. It bounced off his head, but he took no notice of it.

She prepared to dunk another cloth.

"Uh, what are you doing, Takagi?" Hirano asked in a whisper. Takagi let the cloth soak for a moment.

"Just shut up and don't worry," she growled back, too busy to yell at him properly like she always seemed to do. Geoffrey raised an eyebrow, figuring out what she was doing.

"If I didn't know any better," he muttered to Hirano, "I'd say she was conducting an experiment."

Takagi hurled the second cloth, this time making it collide with the lockers. The student's head snapped up, and he turned to the metal boxes. He stumbled over, bumping the locker, and then turned back to where he was standing.

With a smile of triumph, Takagi said, "Get it?" She stood and faced the boys. "He didn't react when it hit him, which is why I threw the second one at the lockers. They seem to react to sound – heat, too." She suddenly scowled, disgust replacing triumph. "This experiment makes me hate them more," she said. "Let's just go."

She stormed past the two, Hirano and Geoffrey following her. "So, that means we're still trying to get out?" Hirano asked nervously.

"What are you implying?" Takagi growled, swinging her arms like a child walking angrily about.

"Well, things could get bad with this slow pace–"

She turned to him, shouted, "Then pick it up, fatty! I told you you'd get lazy like this when you got your driver's licence and a car!"

Hirano blinked, lowering his homemade nail gun. "But I don't have a car," he said. "Or a licence."

Takagi gave him a wide-eyed stare, shock reaching her expression. "What?"

Geoffrey couldn't help but dare an amused smile.

* * *

"The faculty room?" Busujima said, glancing back at Shizuka as she pushed back a student with her wooden sword. "This is really getting tiresome…"

"But we can get away in a car," Shizuka defended. Rin smiled at her friend, pleased with the burst of genius she showed.

She said, "Excellent idea, Shizuka. The faculty room has everyone's keys in it – even mine."

Shizuka glanced at Rin. "You came in a minivan, right?" Rin nodded. The nurse turned back to the student. "See? We can get away in a car."

One of the students came out of nowhere, mouth open wide and arms reaching for the nurse and teacher. Busujima pushed him back with her sword, knocking him in the chest. He went back a few steps, his movements slowed a bit.

"Why aren't you hitting them on the head?" Rin asked, remembering Busujima's earlier actions.

"Pushing them back slows them down a little, and has around the same effect as hitting them on the head," the Kendo Club President explained. "It would take more time to hit them on the head, and it would be bad if we got surrounded by them."

She pushed another one away, grunting a little.

"They also have really strong arms," she went on. "If they grab you, you'll have a pretty hard time getting away.

Shizuka smiled at the student, impressed. "Wow, you're amazing–" Her feet slipped, causing the nurse to fall with a yelp. Busujima and Rin turned to her, wondering what was wrong. The problem seemed obvious, though, when they saw how tightly her skirt restricted her legs to move.

"What is wrong with me?" Shizuka asked sadly, blushing at her fall. Busujima knelt down in front of her, observing the skirt.

"You can't run in this," Busujima stated. Before Shizuka or Rin could stop her, she tore along the skirt, a large vertical slash going up her left leg as Shizuka wailed in horror.

"This is Prada!" she almost screamed at the student. Rin was by her side in seconds, helping her up.

"Shizuka, which is more important?" she asked innocently. "Your life or the brand?"

"Both!"

Rin sighed with a smile. Typical Shizuka Marikawa. Even as an adult she loved clothing brands and which one made her look pretty or important or even relaxed. It was a wonder she managed to even graduate high school when they were teenagers. Ah, that was a funny time.

"The faculty room, was it?" Busujima asked after a pause.

* * *

Alice gripped her brother's hand tightly, scared of the people that had been eating others. Her mother was still not with them, but her father had promised that she would meet them at a safe place.

"Daddy," Alice asked, "where are we going?"

Her father glanced back at his kids, smiling reassuringly. "We're going somewhere safe, Alice," he told her. "Right, Alex?"

Alice's brother, Alex, nodded and pulled her forward. He wasn't speaking, hadn't been saying anything to her since they left the house. It scared her a little.

They continued on, avoiding crowd of people covered in blood, and hurried around to as many houses as they could. Screams came from a few, but most were strangled and silenced immediately. Alice squeezed her eyes shut and kept on walking, her hand hurting from how tightly she clutched her brother's.

They turned a corner, came to an abrupt stop. Alice opened her eyes wide and stared at the people before them. One of them had red hair, tall, while the other was smaller, dressed in punk-style clothes. One of them carried a large gun and the other held a metal pipe. Both were cautious of the Maresatos.

Alice beamed at them. "Hello," she greeted, letting go of Alex's hand. Her brother immediately stood in front of her, protective of the younger girl. The taller one, the boy with the red hair, looked in their father's direction.

Her father held out a hand. "Erm, hello," he said. "I'm Maresato."

The redhead took his hand, but didn't reply with a name or a "nice to meet you". He was silent, like Alex was.

"Alice, stay behind me," Alex muttered, taking his sister's hand again. Alice didn't argue.

Their father was still trying to get the redhead to talk, the girl remaining silent by her friend's side.

"Do you know a safe place we can go to?" he asked. The redhead lifted his glasses, revealing one blue eye and one white eye, a scar going over the white eye. He glanced between the three Maresatos, then lowered the glasses and nodded in the direction behind him, turning on his heel and letting the three of them follow him and the girl.

* * *

**And that's the third chapter. I introduced some of the canon characters (obviously Shido ain't there -.-) and some of the other OCs (two without naming them) so I feel happy.**

**And yes, I did give Alice a big brother.**

**See you guys next chapter :)**

**~Miki**


	5. 4: Let's NOT Be Stupid

***Just realised how hard it's going to be writing without Rei in half of the gang's scenes **_**and**_** building up Hisashi's character***

**I felt so proud of myself on the last week of school – I drew a picture of an OC killing Nyan Cat. JUSTICE! If you want to see the picture (it isn't the full one -.- I need better camera...) just look for 'Mei's Revenge' on my DA account. I actually showed the picture to a friend of mine who likes Nyan Cat, and all he did was frown in disappointment. A couple of other friends, however, said, "Fuck yes!"**

**...Mu-ha-ha!**

**I hope everyone enjoys the chapter :)**

**~Miki**

* * *

The two boys took careful aims and fired the nail guns at each of the blood-covered students and teachers limping toward them. Behind them was Takagi, ordering them to keep firing and demanding to know how they knew how to shoot with such precision.

"Takagi," Hirano said, shooting a girl missing half of her face. "Can you please help us fight them?"

The girl stared at him with narrowed eyes, annoyance in her voice as she snapped back, "Why would I do something like that?"

Geoffrey frowned as he shot down another student. "It would really help, considering we're almost out of nails."

Takagi scowled at the statement. "I'll help when you run out!"

An empty click came from Geoffrey's nail gun, dread hitting him with some force. "I'm out," he reported to Hirano. The chubby teen gave him a grin, shooting down a teacher.

"You did some good damage, though," he complimented. "Took down more than me."

Geoffrey smiled to himself, turned to face Takagi and throw her comment back at her, but froze mid-turn. "Takagi," he said as calmly as he could, "there's one behind you, too."

The pink-haired girl narrowed her eyes in thought. She followed Geoffrey's line of sight and gasped at what was behind her; one of the blood-soaked teachers was behind her, eyes red and blood all over his pale face. Takagi screamed loudly and fell to the floor, scooting back to the wall in a futile attempt to get away from him. As he neared her, she reached for the bag on the floor and pulled out the first thing she could find.

"Get away," Takagi ordered him, forcing the drill into his forehead and switching it on. "Don't come any closer!"

People arrived in the area – living, breathing people – and nearly all of them had some kind of weapon with them. Geoffrey tightened his grip on the nail gun and bashed the head of a student getting a little too close, their body hitting the ground like a sack of bricks.

"_Die, die, die!_" Takagi spat, fury in her eyes as she pushed the drill further into the teacher's head. Blood splattered everywhere, staining her shirt and landing on the floor.

One of the teachers that wasn't covered in blood (and trying to eat them) stepped forward from where she was, a fire extinguisher in her hands. She moved her light blue gaze from the other two she was with – (Geoffrey could've sworn the blonde one was the Fujimi nurse) – and looked to the second group. They were larger, consisting of five students and one teacher, almost all of them armed and ready to fight.

"Akazawa, Yamamoto," the dark-haired teacher called, bashing one of the students away with her fire extinguisher, "knocking them down slows them down."

The brown-haired girl in the second group smiled evilly, then turned to the only boy wearing a Kyuube uniform. He grinned back, aiming the fire extinguisher in his hands and letting loose the contents on the floor.

Some of the students in front of them slipped, giving Hirano more of a chance to shoot down the remaining standing.

Meanwhile, Takagi was still drilling away at the teacher's head.

"We'll take the right," a grey-haired Fujimi student said. "You guys take the left."

The two groups went to their designated sides, beating at the flesh-hungry students as the teacher Takagi was drilling fell to the ground, no longer moving and leaving her trembling with wide eyes. She stared at it in shock.

Geoffrey stood from where he'd been crouching, the nail gun gripped in one hand as he made his way to Takagi. The groups were finished in their assault, turning to the three at the end of the room. Hirano stood also, regarding the two groups thankfully.

"Takagi, are you okay?" Geoffrey asked, kneeling down beside her. The Fujimi nurse and the dark-haired teacher went straight to Takagi's side, concerned for her wellbeing as Geoffrey slowly stood back up. Best to leave it to the nurse to deal with this, it seemed.

The girl that had been with the teachers was standing near the second group and Hirano, introducing herself and the teachers. Geoffrey could gather that Nurse Marikawa was the blonde woman, and vaguely remembered who Miss Himura was – from Kyuube; the science teacher.

"I am Saeko Busujima," the girl said.

The grey-haired Fujimi student stepped forward, introducing himself to her. "I'm Hisashi Igo, and this is my friend, Takashi Komuro." He gestured to a student with a baseball bat. "The teacher with us is–"

"Mr Mishima," Busujima cut in. "I've had him for my English classes."

Igo nodded, looked to the other three. They were the Kyuube students – two girls, one boy.

"I'm Miki Yamamoto," the brown-haired girl introduced, her voice containing a strange accent. If Geoffrey didn't know any better, he'd say it was Irish.

"Sup, I'm Hiroshi Akazawa," the guy said, giving a lazy wave and a cheeky grin. The final Kyuube student pursed her lips together stubbornly.

"Ami Tokugawa," she growled.

Busujima smiled at them and turned to Geoffrey, waiting from him to introduce himself.

"I'm Geoffrey Kuribayashi Dees," he said.

"It's nice to meet you," Busujima replied with a smile. Hirano visibly went red and stared at her with his mouth agape.

Takagi seemed to recover from her shock as she stood and growled, "What's with you, all acting so friendly?"

Miss Himura gave her a confused expression. She said, "What's wrong, Takagi? What do you mean?"

"Don't act stupid!" Takagi snapped, facing the teacher angrily. That same fury she had earlier had returned to her eyes. "I'm a genius! If we act like this, we'll lose next time!"

Yamamoto moved from where she was standing, approached Takagi with a surprisingly relaxed expression on her face. As she neared the angered girl, Geoffrey noticed the streak of white hair along the front of Yamamoto's brown, causing him to wonder why only that part had been bleached.

"Hey, calm down." She placed a hand on Takagi's shoulder, the other girl freezing the moment she caught sight of herself in a nearby window. Her reflection was hard to make out, but it clearly showed her covered in blood and scared to death. Yamamoto's hand was still on her shoulder as she began to tremble again.

"My clothes..." She stared at her reflection, eyes trailing up and down in shock. "They're so dirty... Now Mom's going to have trouble washing out the blood..."

Unexpectedly, Takagi broke into tears and turned to Yamamoto, whose relaxed face became unsure as the smaller teen clung to her and sobbed loudly. The taller girl looked to everyone else for guidance, as though confused on what to do. Miss Himura nodded to Takagi, a message in the head movement. Yamamoto looked back to Takagi and patted her lightly on the head, trying to calm her.

* * *

They all collapsed into a chair each, relieved that they were finally catching a break from the zombie killing.

"_Them". Igo said to call them "them,"_ Miki reminded herself. _Ah, screw whatever I call them. I still need to find out where Mori is. Wait, Kanna came here as well, didn't she? Hell, maybe she's with him right now._

Hiro leaned back in his seat, watching her with a serious look on his face. "Penny for your thoughts, leprechaun?" he asked.

"I am _not_ short, perve."

He merely laughed at that. "You talk funny," he noted – not for the first time, either. "Oye," he mimicked. "Oye am not short."

She glared at him, embarrassed, and chucked a pen at his face. It bounced off his forehead, making him frown as a small red mark appeared where the pen had hit.

The other guys in the group were moving some things, barricading the doors so that none of "them" could get inside. That left the girls (and Hiro) to their own devices in the room.

Takagi had calmed down a bit after her breakdown, and had gone to look for an area to clean up herself. Busujima was sitting at the end of one table, rubbing her shoulder and letting out a breath, while Ami seemed to be concerned about her hair, and was fixing it until it was back in its original loose ponytail. Miss Himura and Ms Marikawa were sitting next to each other, both of them looking tired as one rested her head on the table and one leaned back in her chair.

Igo took a step back from the barricade and glanced between the other guys. Mr Mishima nodded in approval at their work and walked over to a seat, sitting down silently as the boys made a decision as to what they were going to do. Finally, they all sat down while Hirano went to check on Takagi.

Something was bugging Miki, though. She quickly glanced at the student who had introduced himself as Geoffrey, trying to remember where she'd heard his name before.

And then it hit her.

"Hey, you're that foreign exchange student," she said, sitting up in her seat. He nodded with an eyebrow raised, his expression clearly stating, "Duh."

Hiro poked her head with the pen she'd thrown at him. "He's been at our school since the start of the semester," he reminded her. "How can you forget something like that?"

"I think the question is less about my memory and more about my ignorance."

Ami scoffed, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "More like a question of your stupidity."

"Shut up, you traitorous bitch!"

Miss Himura's head snapped up, a stern look in her eyes as she growled at the two girls, "Don't make me throw you both out of the room, Yamamoto, Tokugawa."

Her tone made Miki shudder and Ami flinch, but it still managed to get the girls to settle. Hiro grinned at Miki and poked her head with the pen again. Miki made no move to stop him, thinking to herself that it was better than listening to Ami drone on about how stupid she thought Miki was.

To break the awkward silence that had followed, Igo stood and asked anyone if they wanted any water. Confused, Miki watched where he was walking to and spotted the mini-fridge that resided under a nearby sink.

_Well... That's just convenient,_ she thought with a frown.

Soon after, Igo handed the bottles of water to everyone. Once he reached Komuro, his friend asked the nurse, "Ms Marikawa, do you have the keys to your car here?"

The blonde woman jumped up at that, rushing for her bag and sitting down with it as she fished through it. She suddenly stopped when Miss Himura reminded her, "Your little car won't fit all of us."

"What about the minibuses for the fieldtrips?" Busujima suggested. "We have all the keys in here." Hirano, who had returned with Takagi while Igo handed out the water, made his way to the window. He pointed out toward the school parking lot.

"They're still there," he replied with a smile.

Ms Marikawa rose from her seat and glanced at the group. "Say, where would we go in one of these buses, anyway?" she asked.

"I want to see if my family's okay," Komuro noted. Ms Marikawa nodded, thinking about what to do about Komuro's request.

"Everyone's house is close by," Mr Mishima spoke up, surprising everyone after his silence. "If their families need it, we should help them. After that, we should find some place safe to stay."

Takagi, who was now wearing glasses, checked out her shirt and frowned at the blood. "We're bound to find them eventually," she joined. "The police and self-defence force are on the move, after all. If they handle things like they'd handle an earthquake, there should be someplace the people are being evacuated to."

The sound of a TV being turned up caught their attentions, causing them to glance over at the source of the noise. Standing and staring at a TV in a corner was Igo, his eyes glued to the screen determinedly.

"What's wrong, Igo?" Mr Mishima asked his student, joining him. Komuro joined them also, staring up at the screen with his friend. The volume was loud enough for them all to hear, the news report clearly stating the situation.

"_...it. Due to large numbers of riots throughout the country, the government has been forced to rethink their emergency policy._" The reporter was shown outside, in front of an ambulance truck as bodies in body bags were carted over and waited to be transported. "_However, when questioned on the ability of the self-defence force to maintain public order, representatives would not comment._"

_Pigs_, Miki thought with disdain.

"This is just messed up," Igo muttered to himself, turning the TV up just a tad louder.

Another body bag was carted over to the truck as the woman went on, "_The local death toll has already surpassed one thousand. The prefectural governor is going to make a speech directed to those evacuated. He–_" She quickly turned away from the camera, a hand flying to her ear. "_Oh, just in! The police have made an announcement! They still don't know what to make of the situation..._"

Attention was brought away from her as, remarkably, a body bag began to rise. She cut herself off, screaming, as the bag rolled off of the cart and slowly stood.

"_W-What? This can't– Help!_"

The scene cut away to the "technical difficulties" picture, followed by a live report from the anchormen in the studio. They announced that they would from then on report live from only the studio, but it still didn't stop the reactions from the Kyuube and Fujimi students.

"That's it?" Komuro demanded. "Why won't they show any more?"

Takagi stepped forward, positioning herself between Igo and Komuro as Mr Mishima sank into a seat nearby. The teacher let out a tired breath and took a long swig of the water.

"They don't want to cause panic among viewers," Takagi informed him. Miki blinked in confusion, holding back a shudder from the event she'd just seen.

"Even with what they just saw?" she asked suspiciously.

With a scoff, Takagi shot back, "_Because_ of what they just saw! Fear causes chaos, and chaos destroys order in society." She pushed her glasses further up her nose, her expression turning from annoyed to informative. "And if there's no order... Who knows how many lives will be lost?"

Further news reports came in, reporting that the United States' President had evacuated the White House and was apparently heading west; there was also a report of trouble in London, but it was nothing compared to what was happening in Rome and Paris.

These were all places Miki would've loved to go on a holiday to, all places she wanted to experience in her lifetime that were where everything was happening. And now look at them – lost to this _thing _spreading in all directions.

Hirano spoke up, breaking the silence that had settled over them. "Asanet's reports have always been reliable in the past..."

Trembling in her seat, Ami muttered, "I don't believe it. I _can't_ believe it..." She stood from her seat, slamming her hands on the table as she shouted, "Nothing like this has ever happened before! Shouldn't there at least be a place that's still okay? There's got to be someplace where people are going about life normally and–"

"That's just stupid," Miki grumbled. If Mori were here, he'd say it to Ami as well. Who better to correct the bitch than the horror otaku?

"Yamamoto's right," Takagi agreed. "That is stupid, Tokugawa."

Igo looked to his classmate with a slight frown. "Don't talk like that, Takagi," he said politely. Takagi shrugged and walked around the room, relaying her thoughts to everyone.

"I can't help it," she told him. "The fact is that we have a pandemic on our hands."

Ms Marikawa's expression darkened, glancing down at the table as she muttered, "Pandemic..."

Miki's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "A pandemic?" she repeated at Takagi. "Isn't that where lots of people die at once because of a person?"

Poking her with the pen again, Hiro smiled cheekily. "That's genocide, girl," he told her. "A pandemic is an outbreak of a disease."

"The infection is spreading like wildfire," Takagi went on, ignoring the two students. "The rest of the world has the same disease as we have here."

"Like the influenza," Igo chimed in. Takagi still ignored everyone else.

"It seems a bit like the Spanish flu of 1918," she said. "Recently, they said that the whole bird flu thing had the potential to reach the levels of what happened in 1918. They couldn't underestimate it. Get it?"

Everyone nodded.

"It was because six hundred million were infected with the Spanish flu, and so millions were killed by it."

Miss Himura frowned at the information. "That sounds a bit like the Black Death from the fourteenth century," she thought aloud. "The one that killed one third of Europe's population."

As soon as she said it, Hiro replied, "What did they do to stop it?"

Once again, it was Miss Himura that answered. "They tried many, many things," she said. "A lot of people died, but it ended suddenly. People developed an immunity to it."

Hirano glanced out the window, worried. "But people who die come back to life and start attacking everyone."

"You're saying there's no way to stop it from spreading." Busujima crossed her arms in front of her.

Now it was Ms Marikawa's turn to answer. "When it gets hot, their muscles will rot and fall off their bones, and they won't be able to move anymore."

"And how would that happen?"

Ms Marikawa counted off something with her fingers, thinking hard. "During the summer, it should take about twenty days for them to turn into skeletons. It's winter now, so it'll be a few months. But if we do it that way, our homes aren't far from here, so we could go..." She trailed off, leaving someone else to speak after her.

Unfortunately, it was Takagi who joined back in. "We don't even know if they'll start rotting," she pointed out with a huff. Igo narrowed his eyes at her, confused.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Takagi crossed her arms in front of her, frowning at the feedback she was giving.

"They're dead bodies, so a cure is out of the question," she thought aloud. She then muttered to herself, "How long will we have to put up with them?"

Finally, the quiet Busujima spoke up. "After we check on our families, we'll have to agree on someplace to escape to. In any case, we won't survive if we act selfishly." That last sentence seemed directed at Ami and Takagi, but Miki was sure she imagined it. "We are a team. If we want to stay alive, we're going to have to act like one."

There was silence among them, the older teen's words settling in. It kind of sucked, being on the same team as _her_ – the very backstabbing liar that was Ami – but survival was survival. Maybe Ami would get bitten between now and escaping the school. Yeah, that would be a justice well-served.

"How are we going to get out?" Miss Himura asked curiously. Igo glanced around the room, noticing that no one was going to answer the teacher.

"Getting to the parking lot through the front entrance would be the best way," he decided. He faced the entire group determinedly, sure of his plan. "Let's go."

The entire group stood, readying their weapons and preparing to leave the room.

* * *

The five of them had stopped to rest, safe from any of the people outside as Deadeye led them into the abandoned mental hospital. The gates had been sealed off long ago, and they were easy to scale with both Maresato and himself helping the younger ones.

None of those people were inside, as expected, but the eerie setting of the institute was enough to even creep out the grown man. Even his children, albeit quiet and cheerful, were a little shaken up by it.

The young Genesis – Deadeye's original companion – had taken an object from her bag; a bunny, by the look of it, that was purple and seemed to be called "Bun Bun". She was clutching it tightly, trying not to show how nervous she was in the place, and Deadeye could just tell that they had to leave before nightfall.

"Uh, we never got your names," Maresato said, trying to make idle conversation. Deadeye was quick to answer.

"Deadeye," he replied shortly. Maresato nodded, though looked confused, and turned to Genesis. The young girl refused to answer, merely clutched Bun Bun tighter and frowned at the pathway ahead.

They passed rooms, all of them with numbers on them, and Deadeye mentally counted them off one by one.

_215..._

_217..._

_219..._

_221..._

A door just in front of them caused relief to fly through the group. On the door, thought worn and almost barely readable, was one word: _Cafeteria_. Surely there was canned food in there that they could eat – and there would be blankets hidden somewhere so the kids could sleep for the night to come.

As Maresato and his children entered the room, Genesis and Deadeye took a peek back at the hall they'd walked through.

Something was fishy about it...

With a slight frown, Deadeye took a step forward and listened closely, testing the safety of their sanctuary. Nothing jumped out of nowhere, not a single sound was made. A small rat scurried by at the end of the hall, a small squeak made as it disappeared to the left.

Satisfied, the two turned back and made their way into the cafeteria.

* * *

**Finished this in two days, but started it around two (three?) weeks ago. Yeah, I got lazy... In the meantime, I've been consulting with a friend of mine about how to kill someone in an original story of mine, and I keep forgetting the flower he told me to use – the poison apparently kills very slowly, and even makes the victim delusional and experience hallucinations. Hm... *Killer in thought***

**The story I'm referring to is called 'Fear' – it's on my FictionPress profile, and I **_**really**_ **need to keep going with it, as well as my other one, 'Fly'. I'm also considering doing on original zombie story, but I just can't bring myself to do it -.-**

**Anyway, sorry for the slow update, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll be making a profile for Alex later on (why didn't I think him up sooner?) so once his profile is up everyone can expect a question on their character's thoughts on him.**

**Also, I'll be making a poll on which name Alex and Alice should have (I'm too lazy to count how many people said 'Arisu' and 'Alice' in the character reactions), and the choices are: Alex and Alice, or Arekkusu and Arisu.**

**~Miki**


	6. 5: Inferiority

**Ugh, I've become such a procrastinator when it comes to my writing... Seriously, I was looking over the last chapter to remember where I was up to and to get back into this, and the author's note confirmed that it was written at the end of the last school term – I haven't updated in a whole term! Friggin' hell, why am I getting so lazy!? *head/desk***

**Baddum... Alex's profile is up; you can find it at the end of the profile page. I was debating for a while on what to make his hair colour – pink like Alice's, or something close to it that looks a little more masculine compared to pink – because I had honestly been imagining him like another character of mine called Alex, who would most likely survive longer than this lil' guy in the zombie apocalypse. Why? Because he knows his city's best hiding places, that's why!**

**And I'm rambling... -3- I seem to do that a lot lately...**

**Anyway, I hope this chapter comes out okay.**

**~Miki**

* * *

Takagi ran slightly ahead, trying to meet with the students leading the group: Igo and Busujima, with Komuro a little behind them.

As Takagi caught up with them, Busujima advised, "We're finally leaving. Only fight if you have no way of avoiding 'them'. Knocking 'them' down is effective too."

"Guys, 'they're' only sensitive to sound," Takagi cut in. "But 'they're' strong enough to rip a door off of its hinges. If you're caught, you're dead." As an afterthought, she added, "Be careful."

As they ran on, Miki could slowly begin to recognise the area. This was where they'd ran through in order to get to the staff room. Did this mean they were retracing their steps to get out?

A scream from up ahead caught everyone's attention, followed by moans and cursing. They all picked up their paces, Ami easily overtaking Miki and finding herself right beside Takagi and Komuro. It wasn't long before the people that they were looking for came into view; it was a small group of students, one of them armed with a baseball bat and a sharp glare aimed at every one of "them" that got closer to them.

"Takuzo," one of the girls in the group whimpered. The one with the bat – the assumed-Takuzo – gritted his teeth in frustration and swore under his breath.

"Get back!" he yelled; whether he was yelling at "them" or at the group, no one was sure.

Busujima, Igo, and Komuro raced forward, all of them striking one of "them" each. Busujima sent one straight onto the ground with a hard whack over the head, while the boys flung two of "them" in separate directions. Hiro managed to run past Miki, fire extinguisher slung over his shoulder as he approached one of "them" a little closer to the group. With a hard swing of the extinguisher, "they" were sent toward the window, leaving a large crack where "their" head had collided.

The four of them surveyed the damage done, and only Hiro smiled at their work. "Nice teamwork," he complimented in a hushed tone. It seemed that, even when he was joking, he knew when he had to keep the noise down.

A survivor walked forward, hands over her heart as she sighed in relief, "T-Thank you for saving us."

As expected, Hiro began to open his mouth in an attempt to flirt, or even make a sexual comment; however, he was cut off when Ami and Miki shot him equally annoyed glares.

"Keep your voices low," Busujima advised them, glancing from student to student. "Were any of you bitten?"

The other girl in the group stepped forward, hands waving about in defence. "We weren't – honest!" she whispered hurriedly.

Miss Himura observed each one, letting out a breath as she told their group, "They all look okay, seriously. No signs of bites anywhere."

Igo nodded, turned to the group determinedly. "We're escaping the school," he announced. "Anyone want to join us?"

The students stared at him as though he were an idiot, the answer obvious in their expressions.

* * *

"Well," Ami growled sarcastically, "this certainly was a well-thought plan."

A few people in the group glanced her way, annoyed by her sudden comment, but some did see her point – this wasn't very well-planned; they'd only been focusing on getting out, and still none of them managed to ask, "What if this happens?"

Now, regarding the horde of "them" in the room before them, Miki felt the urge to groan out loud. Ami was right, for once; and it sucked.

"I don't want to do this," Komuro sighed quietly. Takagi, who had been silently by his side, looked his way.

"'They' can't see," she whispered back at him. "It'll be like you're hidden!"

He glanced back at her, frowning sadly as he shot back, "Oh, yeah? Why don't you go and give it a try, Takagi? Prove yourself right."

Takagi flinched and backed away, clearly not wanting to endanger herself over answering an unasked question.

Igo joined in, although his tone was kinder than Komuro's. "Show us your theory is correct, Takagi," he muttered to the smaller teen. "We won't be able to move with a group as big as this."

The genius of the group seemed to shrink away, even though Igo had used a polite and comforting tone. It must've been the fact that he pointed out a flaw in their plan to help others escape.

Busujima added, "Inside the school... During the first attack I couldn't find any consistency in 'their' movements."

"Regardless," Igo countered, "we won't be able to just run out the entrance."

Crossing her arms in front of her, the Yamamoto girl frowned and peeked around the lockers they were hiding behind – "they" being her, Hiro, Ami, Miss Himura, Igo, and half of the students they'd found. Everyone else was hiding behind the lockers opposite them, their expressions plotting and their movements – though small – were soundless.

Miki glared at the area in front of them, spotting the afternoon sun waiting for them outside the doors, a horde of "them" just waiting between the survivors and freedom. She couldn't count how many there were – (_Why can't these things stand still!?_) – but she just knew that at least three people minimum would be lost if everyone tried to rush out all at once.

Maybe skipping school would've been a good idea, after all...

"Someone's going to have to confirm it for us," Busujima said dejectedly. No one could blame her for her tone – there was a fifty-fifty chance that whoever went out wouldn't come back.

Naturally, almost no one volunteered.

Komuro looked ready to volunteer himself, but was cut off when both Igo and Ami whispered, "I'll do it."

All eyes landed on them, shock in everyone's expression. Miki was the most shocked of them all, as she was not expecting self-centred, "Screw-you-all-I'm-surviving" Ami to actually volunteer for something so _selfless_. However, Igo's reason for volunteering remained a mystery to the teen.

"Hisashi," Komuro muttered, "you don't have to do it."

Igo let out a small laugh, but it sounded more like a crack in a short breath. "Rei would kill me if I didn't try to help anyone else," he told his friend. "You know how she is, Takashi."

"But she's not here anymore."

The silver-haired boy shrugged and smiled weakly, and then cast his brown-eyed gaze toward Ami. "You wanted to do this, didn't you?" he inquired. The girl pouted and glared.

"I'm a fast runner," she grumbled. "If 'they' tried to chase me, I'd outrun them. Besides, dying would be better than sticking with _her_." She gestured at Miki when she finished her sentence, earning a scowl from her rival as Igo considered her answer.

"Stay here, Tokugawa," he said. "I'll do it."

He began to walk forward, his friends remaining quiet as they tried to stop him – but Igo was persistent and walked on. He'd passed the next row of lockers when his friends let him go, then the third throw, then the fourth...

Soon enough, he was standing right in the middle of a crowd of "them". Nearby his foot was a discarded shoe, possibly a sneaker belonging to an unfortunate student that was now one of "them". With a nervous expression, he continued walking just a few steps.

One of "them" glided toward him, sucking in a deep breath and "their" jaw slack-enough to look ready to take a bite. Igo froze, staring at "them" with wide eyes – but "they" merely walked by him, barely even taking any notice of the student. Two more of "them" did the same, and soon enough Igo's confidence rose.

Back behind the lockers, everyone else was smiling in relief, both awestruck and joyous that Takagi's theory was correct.

Igo brought his arm back and hurled the shoe toward the far wall, away from their escape route, and watched as each and every one of "them" reacted to the sound of the sneaker colliding with the wall. The moment "they" began to move, so did the remaining group of survivors. The survivors hurriedly walked over, two by two, and kept their weapons at the ready. Komuro ran ahead, meeting with his friend, and both of them reached the doors in time to open them silently.

Just when freedom was so close, it was ruined in an instant.

Another survivor emerged from the direction they'd come from, panicking and holding a baseball bat. He was trying to get to the fleeing group, seeming relieved upon spotting them – but that relief turned to dread when his bat banged against the railing of the stairway.

Only half of the group was outside by now, but that still didn't stop the panic that arose in nearly everyone's stomachs. The horde of "them" that had been occupied by a nonexistent target turned back to the source of the new sound, immediately making a beeline for "their" new, very much alive target

The mass of "them" outside had heard also, "their" heads curiously turning toward the school building.

"Run!" Komuro and Igo announced, breaking into a sprint along with their large group. Takagi ran ahead to the boys leading them, scolding Komuro and Igo for shouting out. Another of "them" was in their way, Igo deftly swatting it aside as he cleared a path with Komuro.

"The noise from the bat echoes," he reminded Takagi. "It would've been pointless not to run."

The students behind the original group were trying to follow along, almost reaching their destination as the students and teachers continued to clear more of a path. One of the minibuses was so close, everyone could almost taste freedom. It was so close – _so damn close_.

Near the back of the group, Takuzo and another of his group continued to hold up the rear, batting away any of "them" that came after them. Takuzo swung the bat, knocking down one of "them", and scowled as more advanced. The other survivor had moved along with the group, leaving the student on his own. And the moment that hand reached out and grasped the cloth draped around his neck, he knew calling for help would be pointless. That still didn't stop the screams escaping him, though.

A girl in the group – the one that had whimpered his name earlier – turned around, spotting him as he struggled against "their" grips, his arms and torso being bitten left, right, and centre.

She turned to run for him, only to be stopped by Takagi, who grabbed her arm. "Don't go!" she ordered. "If you get bitten then escaping would be pointless–"

Takagi stopped herself when the girl shot her a teary-eyed glare and broke free of her grasp, immediately running for Takuzo. The genius scowled at her telling her to stop. Still running, the girl screamed back, "Why should I? What am I supposed to do? Tell me why I should turn back! I don't have anyone I can trust anymore!"

Takagi stared at her with wide eyes, catching up with Ami and Ms Marikawa. The blonde woman told the teen, "I can understand where she's coming from. If the rest of the world is this bad... Maybe it'd be better to die."

All that earned was an angered reaction. "You call yourself a nurse?" Takagi snapped, completely oblivious to one of "them" wandering toward her. Hirano intervened, thankfully, and stood in front of her, firing a nail from his nail gun.

"Please stay calm, Takagi," he said calmly.

"You stupid tub of lard! What makes you think you can just interrupt me?"

Hirano nervously gulped and then smiled back at her. "I don't know. Usually I like the sound of your voice, Takagi."

The girl froze and stated at him with wide eyes, a small blush befalling her cheeks. Slightly ahead was Busujima, who looked back at them with a big-sisterly smile. "You two must be close," she remarked. "I'm envious."

Everyone climbed into the minibus once it was unlocked, the survivors with weapons staying outside to cover everyone until they could safely get inside. It took a little while, "their" bodies piling up as Ms Marikawa tried to figure out how to drive the minibus. Miss Himura watched over the nurse's shoulder, instructing her as fast as she could while Miki and the others without weapons watched what was happening outside.

"Everyone's in!" Busujima announced. Igo immediately looked to Ms Marikawa, who was just about ready to start the minibus. Everyone climbed in, and Komuro turned around to slide the door shut.

However, something up ahead caught his attention.

A teacher was leading a group of students, all of them running straight for the bus in a panic for survival. Miki wasn't paying any attention to the Fujimi students, nor their teacher – she'd spotted the one face she'd been worried about the whole day, as well as the face of her closest friend and her brother's girlfriend.

Mori and Kanna ran in the middle of the group, Mori supporting a bandaged arm while Kanna was visibly trying to slow her fast run to stay with him. It figured that Mori couldn't keep up with her; Kanna was faster than Miki when it came to running, rivalling Ami for first place at every sports festival at Kyuube. That wasn't why Mori couldn't keep up with her, though – he was never good at any kind of physical sport; it was probably why he was more book smart than Miki, what with all that spare time he had _not_ doing P.E.

Concern washed over Miki as she watched Mori, a small feeling tugging deep down when it came to that bandaged arm. He hadn't arrived with it at Kyuube, and he nobody mentioned him hurting himself before this whole fiasco. It couldn't be–

"God, do you think he'd bitten?" Ami gasped, sitting in the row in front of Miki. Miki glanced at her, catching the horrified expression on her face. It wasn't a disgusted kind of horror – it was a worried horror.

_Ami still cares for him_, Miki thought to herself. _Figures she'd only torment me, and not Mori._

The other girl suddenly gasped and banged against the window, earning more than just attention from Miki. "What's he doing?" she demanded.

Miki returned her attention to her brother, eyes widening upon what she was seeing. He'd stopped – just _stopped_, standing there like a smiling idiot. Kanna was staring back at him while she ran, obviously fighting her emotions. Faintly seen was a small stream of blood trailing down Mori's chin, his now pale face.

So it was a bite residing beneath the bandage. That meant that it was going to be Miyamoto all over again.

And, knowing Kanna, the displayed emotions of those close to him would dwarf the displayed emotions of those close to Miyamoto.

Hiro had taken a seat in the row behind Miki, also watching what was happening. The group Mori had been with was now closer, Miss Himura muttering an, "Oh, no," under her breath while Mr Mishima clenched his hands into tight fists.

Before Miki knew what was happening, more people clambered into the minibus and the vehicle started forwards, many thumps and thuds coming from the front. Mori was becoming smaller and smaller from her view. Soon enough, he was gone, still inside the school while Ms Marikawa drove the bus out through the gates.

Kanna immediately ran for Miki's seat and plopped down next to her, holding back tears. Comforting someone for a second time, Miki turned to her and brought her into a sad embrace. This was going to be harder than she'd thought.

* * *

There had been an impossible amount of silence for the entire ride, both Kanna and Miki receiving glances from Fujimi students that had come with the new teacher – Mr Shido, they called him. They were being watched by two students in particular, a boy and a girl; the boy with two different coloured eyes and the girl with bleached-blonde hair that still had black roots showing on her scalp.

Miki couldn't help but send light glares to them whenever they looked their way, but it was hard to do with Kanna's head on her shoulder and a nonresponsive vibe emitting from the poor girl.

Everyone was suspicious of each other at this point, barely speaking a word and looking away the moment someone turned their head toward them. It was hard to bear, especially when not even the teachers were cooperating with each other. Miss Himura and Mr Mishima were keeping an extra distance from Mr Shido, it seemed, and Miki couldn't help but wonder about the back-story there.

Finally unable to handle any more glances from the duo, Miki nudged Kanna with her elbow. "Hey, Kanna," she said softly. "I'm gonna get up to stretch my legs. Is it okay if Hiro sits with you until I sit down again?"

Kanna glanced up while Hiro peeked through the gap in the seats, and the girl reluctantly lifted her head and pressed her legs to the seat, giving Miki room to get out. Hiro watched her stand up and get out. She glanced back at him, waiting for him to sit in her spot.

He stood, and mumbled, "Don't do anything stupid, Cheeky," as he took her seat and wrapped a comforting arm around Kanna's shoulder. At least Hiro knew not to make any perverted remarks while Kanna was like this.

Considering what she was doing as probably disobeying Hiro, Miki began to walk toward the two Fujimi students. They were seated on their own, no one joining them as they took the double-seats for themselves.

"Is there a problem?" Miki demanded, frowning. Immediately, everyone's heads perked up and their ears listened in. _Stupid, eavesdropping little– _

"You look like the guy that got bitten," the girl said simply. "You're also in the same uniform. Are you related?"

"Yeah, we are," Miki replied coolly. "What of it?"

The guy chose that moment to speak, barely making eye contact. "We're sorry for your loss," he muttered. Miki sighed and crossed her arms in front of her.

"Save the condolences. They never help."

At that, she turned to go back to her seat. Someone from the end of the bus moved forward, catching her eye as he smiled at her.

It was Mr Shido, the teacher that Mr Mishima and Miss Himura were keeping away from. "Were you twins?" he inquired curiously. Miki raised an eyebrow.

"Obviously."

The smile on Mr Shido's face grew. "Since you're here and he's not," he said lightly, "I'd assume you knew more about what to do than he did?"

The question probably wasn't meant to be of any offense, but Miki sure as hell took a lot of offense from it. She kept her cool as best she could, replying, "You're mistaken. Mori was both smarter and more aware of what to do. _I_ just went with it. Now, please, do not say anything like that when talking about him."

A small chuckle escaped him. "Of course, Miss...?"

"Yamamoto." He raised an eyebrow, expecting a first name as well. Taking advantage of the moment, she added, "I don't give my first name to people who assume my brother is inferior for simply dying."

At that, she made her way back to her seat and let Hiro move back to his own. As he did, he gave her a proud pat on the shoulder and sat down with a cheeky grin.

And so, Miki was back to where she began: Kanna's head on her shoulder, while the two Fujimi students constantly glanced their way.

* * *

Alex stood in front of Deadeye with a frown, watching the teen as he chewed on his food and kept a constant watch on Genesis. Deadeye was currently seated against a wall, his glasses drawn over his eyes and his free hand resting next to his weapons.

"Hey," Alex said, earning Deadeye's attention. "Why are you wearing those glasses indoors?"

The teen seemed to hesitate with answering, but slowly reached up and lifted the glasses for Alex to see his eyes. One of them – the left eye – was blue, just plain blue; but the other... The other eye was completely white, a scar running over it and stopping just on the upper portion of his cheek.

Alex sucked in a breath. Deadeye lowered the glasses, completely unfazed by the boy's reaction. "How'd you get the scar?" Alex asked. The teen's attention was on him again.

"Not telling," he said simply, and took another bite out of his food. Alex frowned, then opted to sit down into front of Deadeye, his legs crossed and his expression curious.

He nodded to the guns by Deadeye's side. "Ever... Ever killed someone with those?"

Deadeye shrugged. "More or less," he replied.

"When?"

Deadeye let out a breath – it sounded almost like an exasperated laugh. "You ask a lot of things," he noted. When Alex glared at him, expecting an answer, Deadeye nodded to Genesis. "When she needed help," he answered.

Alex glanced at Genesis, finding her sitting on her own with Bun Bun in her hands, whispering things to it and cuddling the toy tightly to her chest. It had been easy for Alex to pick up that she was a lonely girl, despite how the smart air about her. It saddened him a little – Genesis was around the same age as him, he guessed, and yet she looked like she had no one by her side.

His thoughts drifted to Alice, who was sleeping in her father's arms across the room. He didn't want to lose her in this world; he didn't want her to suffer a fate like the rest of the world. He had to protect her!

"Deadeye," he said quietly. "C-Can you teach me to, y'know, use a gun?" At Deadeye's curious tilt of his head, Alex added, "I want to keep Alice safe, and I can't do that if I can't fight."

Alex had been expecting an answer from Deadeye, or at least a nod of the head or a shake to say no. Instead, the teen leaned forward and reached for Alex. The hand rested on the boy's head, ruffling his hair slightly. Alex could see some sort of approval in Deadeye's face, and it was confirmed when the older boy told him, "You're a good brother."


	7. 6: The Sheppard Leading His Lambs

**Um... Hi...**

**Sorry this took so long, guys... I've just... Yeah...**

**I hope this chapter turns out okay ^^"**

* * *

The entire group had been sitting patiently in the bus, keeping to themselves as everyone gave everyone suspicious glances – as though any one of the students or teachers was responsible for the whole zombie apocalypse. Miki had managed to keep herself seated the whole time, avoiding Shido and making sure Kanna was okay. The poor girl had fallen into a light sleep just moments ago, and Miki was doing everything she could to not disturb her. (It was harder than she thought, especially with Kanna's hair making Miki's neck itchy.)

It wasn't until Ms Marikawa ran over one of "them" limping across a near-empty road that one particular student began to start bitching, causing Kanna to wake up and causing Miki to reconsider taking Hiro's advice. Surely punching Chicken Hair wouldn't be stupid? No, it'd be more like a vigilante act, wouldn't it?

"What's going on?" Kanna asked tiredly, rubbing an eye lazily. "Where are we?"

"Don't know where we are," Miki admitted. "Haven't been paying attention. I do know that the kid who woke you is going to get a broken jaw if he doesn't stop whining." She'd said it all with a lazy tone to her voice, and she knew Hiro had heard all of it. To her surprise, the pervert had done nothing to discourage her over the notion. In fact, he chuckled to himself as though daring her to do it.

Seems like punching him _wasn't_ considered stupid.

As soon as Chicken Hair was done complaining about Ms Marikawa's driving, he moved on to the group itself.

"Why do we have to be with you guys?" he demanded loudly, referring to the first group that had occupied the bus. Miki scoffed, but made sure he didn't hear her. "You all decided where to go without considering us."

He was looking around, but no one replied. He went on, "Wouldn't it have been better to just find someplace we could hide out at in the dorms or in the school!?"

The bus was about to turn past a parked truck, only to skid to a stop when another car passed it. The driver swore at Ms Marikawa and kept going, leaving the nurse to drive once more.

Another student – once again from Fujimi – spoke up. He looked rather like the unconsidered or strange character in an anime, with hair covering most of his face and eyes and a weirded-out expression on his face. "He's right, you know," he agreed. "We're only putting ourselves in more danger by driving this way. We should stop somewhere. There's a..."

Miki decided to stop listening to the stupidity these teenagers were spouting, somehow feeling more mature than they were about this whole thing. She just lost her brother, got put in a minibus with a teacher that seemed to push everyone's buttons, and even had to suffer through two students complaining about something they couldn't possibly know all the answers to, and yet she wasn't even complaining one bit. Sure, she wanted to – she wanted to grab the first thing she could swing and trash a car with it – but even she knew when the time called for someone to complain.

The bus swerved into the edge of the road, coming to a slow stop before starting its journey again. It seemed Ms Marikawa was having trouble with driving the bus.

Chicken Hair suddenly exploded, "Can't you drive any slower!? I almost–"

He barely got a chance to finish, because Ms Marikawa snapped back, "That's enough! _Lay off me_! I've never driven one of there before!"

Miki felt a proud smirk grace her face as Chicken Hair shut up, dumbfounded by Ms Marikawa's outburst. Kanna also seemed to have a ghost of a smile on hers as well, relieved that Chicken Hair had been put in his place. Their pleased expressions wouldn't be lasting long, though.

Sitting a little away from where Chicken Hair was standing, Igo and Komuro glanced at each other and at him as they shared quick and silent conversations. By the fifth time they glanced at him, Chicken Head started up again.

"The fuck are you two looking at!?" he yelled. "Huh!?"

Miss Himura was standing within a millisecond. "Why are you acting like this?" she asked, the edge clearly heard in her voice. She was having trouble keeping her patience.

Chicken Hair narrowed his eyes and scowled, only to wildly point at the duo. "I hate these two! They're nothing but fucking bastards!" he went on, this time screaming. He turned to the both of them. "You're just making it worse for all of us!"

By the time Igo began to ask why Chicken Hair hated them so much, Kanna was beginning to lift herself from her chair. Miki was unsure of what the younger girl was doing, opting to just let her go and see what happened next.

She slowly began to walk toward Chicken Hair, who was now yelling back at the duo, "You little assholes!"

Out of nowhere, Kanna launched her foot at Chicken Hair's shin, surprising him as he yelped loudly before grabbing him by the collar of his jacket, a deadly (not to mention menacing and wild) look in her eyes.

"Listen here, shit for brains," she growled, voice low and loudly whispered so that everyone heard. "We're all freaking out here, but that does not give you the right to start hating on two guys who clearly don't even know you. So I'm going to give you some advice so we can all get along: Calm your fucking tits and sit down or I will shove my foot so far up your ass that you really will have something to bitch about for the rest of the ride."

At that she released him, a stunned and fearful look on his face. A complete moment of silence fell upon the entire bus as Kanna swaggered back to her seat, sitting down with her arms crossed and a huff on her face. Miki had never seen her so angry before, but she had one thing to say that broke the silence.

"That's my girl!"

Everyone stared at her for a moment, only to have their attentions turned back to Kanna – who was now smiling and pulling her iPod out of her jacket's inside pocket. She switched on the music as soon as the ear buds were in her ears, and then she closed her eyes as she began to drown everything out.

There was a little room left for Miki to get out, so she decided to climb out of her seat and see if Komuro and Igo were okay. Just as she passed Hiro's seat, the two gave each other a high-five – which earned a confused stare from Kuribayashi, who was seated behind Hiro. Actually, did Miki call him Dees or Kuribayashi? She couldn't be sure... Maybe she should call him Geoffrey – they always used first names in America, didn't they?

As she contemplated this she slowly made her way to Igo and Komuro, reaching them just as Chicken Hair took a seat next to a girl with short, orange hair kept back with a hair band. Miki shrugged off the glare that Ginger was giving her and arrived at the duo's side.

She began to open her mouth to ask them a question, but a slow clapping cut her off, followed by Mr Shido walking slowly toward them.

"What an excellent display of strength and–"

"She can't hear you," Miki stopped him. "When she's got her music playing, she's not paying attention to people. I suggest you leave her alone."

Mr Shido blinked in surprise, taken aback by her tone. Nevertheless, he continued, "It seems you two know each other quite well. I take it your teamwork skills would be rather excellent to witness."

A couple of scoffs came from behind her, obviously from Miss Himura and Mr Mishima. She could understand why Miss Himura was scoffing – Miki couldn't do crap in group activities unless it was in P.E. – but Mr Mishima's scoff was a mystery to her.

"However," he went on, expression turning dark. Miki shuddered, disturbed just a little bit. "To keep fights like this from breaking out, I think we should try a little idea I had."

Miki glanced back at Kanna's spot, noticing that Hiro and Geoffrey were watching over their seats. She turned her attention back to Mr Shido, only to notice Ami scowling at the man from her seat beside his current spot.

"What we need is a leader," he went on, smiling sickly. "A leader for just us!"

Seated on his other side was Takagi, who was keeping a very enraged Hirano next to the window. "Lemmie guess," she scoffed. "There's only one person who could shoulder the burden."

"I'm a _teacher_, Miss Takagi," Mr Shido explained. "You are still _students_. I'm the only one qualified."

"But there's still Miss Himura and Mr Mishima–" Miki tried.

He turned around, smiling as though nothing bad could happen. "So how 'bout it, everyone?" he asked innocently. "If you agree with me, would you please clap your hands?"

The Kyuube students watched in horror as all of Mr Shido's students and even the small group they'd found started to clap for Mr Shido. Miki glanced at Igo and Komuro, who seemed to be keeping their reactions in check. She glanced at Busujima, who had been quiet the whole time, and then at Ami, whose rage was slowly escalating.

Mr Shido took a bow, pleased with this response.

"Just as I said," he went on, turning to face Komuro and Igo. "The majority rules that I am to be leader from now on."

There was a brief pause as the information settled in. So Mr Shido was their leader? Miki felt a little let down over this fact – if anything, she'd prefer the patient Mr Mishima as the leader.

In an instant Ami stood and began yelling at the students. "You _morons_!" she screeched. "Can't you see how fake that damn smile is!? It's obvious he wants to use you!"

All eyes landed on Ami and she scowled back at everyone. Miki was shocked, to say the least. She'd thought Ami would've revelled in this kind of crowd. That was what she usually did whenever it was majority rules...

"Oh. My. _God_." Ami shook her head and made a dash for the front of the bus. "Let me off _now_," she ordered the nurse. Ms Marikawa, although confused, obeyed the girl with great reluctance. Ami jumped out before anyone could stop her, but it was Igo that chased after her.

"Tokugawa, it's not safe outside the bus!" he told her. Ami kept walking, but stopped to turn back to him. Miki let out a breath. If Ami was leaving, she'd be free of her complaining and death glares.

The purple-haired girl replied, "I'm not staying with a bunch of brain dead morons who think following _that guy_" – she nodded to Mr Shido through the window – "is the safest option out there."

"It's safer than outside!"

Ami threw her hands up in exasperation and continued to storm off, just as Mr Shido said, "It sounds like I won't be able to do anything to change her mind."

He sounded a bit "woe is me" to Miki, and she was beginning to feel sorry for the girl outside. "She's just a lost cause," Shido went on.

That was the last straw for Mr Mishima. He rose from his seat in anger and yelled at the man, "How can you say that!?"

It was during the exchange between Mr Mishima and Mr Shido that Miss Himura got out of her seat and exited the bus, going after Ami. Miki wasn't sure what the woman was going to say, especially since the commotion on the bus was drowning out the conversation outside. Miki watched as Miss Himura pleaded with Ami, slowly becoming more and more demanding of the teen, and then became confused when Miss Himura gasped and grabbed Ami's arm, motioning for her to run toward the tunnel ahead of them.

Miki didn't know what was going on until the flaming bus skidded past them, tipped on its side and headed straight for her favourite teacher and most hated enemy.

The initial shock wore off the moment the bus collided with the tunnel, just sitting there like the heap of burning metal it was. Miki raced outside, vaguely aware she was being followed by Busujima and Igo. She stood a little away from the bus, unsure of how close she should get. Through the flames she could make out two shapes rising from the ground, only to realise that they were Ami and Miss Himura.

"Are you okay?" she called, cupping her hands around her mouth. Miss Himura gave her a thumbs-up, and Miki quickly spotted a long tear along the sleeve of her pink blouse. "We'll try get you as soon as–" The fire rose higher, only to take a humanoid shape. Busujima stood in front of Miki a little while Igo pulled her back by her arm.

"It was full of 'them'," Igo muttered. He was right – all throughout the bus, "they" were rising from the flames and limping toward Miss Himura and Ami. Something was different, though.

Deciding not to waste any time, Busujima yelled out to the duo, "Meet us at the bridge – we'll regroup and work out our next move there."

Another thumbs-up from Miss Himura, and then she was leading Ami out through the other side of the tunnel. Miki could only pray for her teacher's safety as she climbed back into the bus.

* * *

"Stay close," Rin advised the girl, keeping an eye open for any of "them" coming out of the bus. The ones that had first emerged had immediately fallen to the ground, consumed by the flames, and Rin wondered if fire was one of their weaknesses. She didn't have time to wonder, though; she needed to find some kind of transport and get to the closest bridge to their location.

It was still a long way away.

"Keep moving," she urged. Ami looked as though she were panicking, but it was hard to tell when the only sign was wide eyes – there was no hyperventilation or slow movements. Ami seemed normal, but her eyes were too wide to be calm.

A moan caught Rin off-guard, and before she knew what was going on a pair of hands grasped her blouse, knocking her away from Ami as the younger girl gave a whimper of fear. "They" looked to be dressed in motorcyclist clothes, a helmet covering "their" head. Rin felt a sense of relief – it couldn't bite her as easily – but the relief soon dissolved when it made an attempt to do so. "They" slammed "their" head onto hers, foreheads colliding. Rin felt a large throb course through her skull, only now noticing that the plastic covering the helmet had been smashed.

She tried to push "them" away with one of her hands, placing her palm on "their" forehead and forcing "them" back a bit, but the grip "they" had was too much – it was pulling her toward it as she pushed it back.

Rin's strength was starting to go – too quickly, but it was normal. She'd never really been one to stay physically strong, so why she'd been expecting a burst of adrenalin to help her was beyond her. The head was getting closer and closer, those teeth getting bigger and bigger...

A loud _thunk_ came from behind "them", and suddenly "they" went limp. Stunned, Rin shoved "them" off of her and looked up to see Ami standing before her. The girl was close to tears, a dark, blood-stained crowbar in her hands. The end of the crowbar was covered with just a bit of fresh blood, and when Rin glanced back at "them" she saw a large crack in the helmet, as well as a small amount of red surrounding it.

Ami dropped the tool and stared at "their" body, horrified by what she'd done. If Rin had remembered correctly, Ami only ran when "they" started filling the school – she didn't even pick up a weapon to fight with to get to the staff room. This was the first undead person she'd killed.

Her first reaction was to comfort the girl, calm her down so they could leave. Once she'd done that, she reminded Ami that what she'd done was selfless, and she was proud of her for doing something like that. While it wasn't entirely true (Rin would be truly proud when the girl apologised to Miki for how she treated her) she was still grateful that Ami had shown a bit of selflessness in that moment.

"He looked like a biker," Rin muttered to herself, thinking. She'd picked up the crowbar as a cautionary weapon, hoping that no more of "them" got the jump of the duo. "So where's his bike?"

The younger girl had been looking around for a few seconds, searching for the bike as well. The two glanced around the area surrounding them, and hadn't made any progress until Ami announced, "Miss Himura, up there!"

She was pointing up to the road above them, and immediately Rin spotted the motorcycle lying on the side of the road. Rin grinned at Ami, once again impressed that she was helping, and began to run for the bike. The two arrived by it within seconds, and Rin felt herself freeze when Ami said, "Do you know how to drive one of these?"

Rin scoffed, "Of course." _Maybe..._

The younger girl looked unconvinced. "If you say so..."

Grinning slightly, Rin climbed onto the bike and steadied it, waiting for Ami to join her. The teen showed great reluctance, but slid behind her and waited for the teacher to start the bike up, get it moving.

"Hold on tight," Rin advised as soon as the bike was revving. "This is my first time riding one of these."

She sped off, down the road as Ami began to scream.

* * *

"Can I...sit with you two?"

Alex looked up with tired eyes, shifting a little as he made sure not to disturb Alice. The younger Maresato had long since fallen asleep on Alex, a blanket wrapped around her tiny form. Alex had been close to falling asleep, but now that Genesis had asked him a question he was slowly beginning to wake up.

"Sure," he said with a nod. Almost immediately Genesis sat down beside him, a bit of distance between them. Bun Bun was still in her hands, held looser than the choke-hold from before, and Alex couldn't help but feel there was a story behind it. Alex decided not to say anything, though – the girl looked too tired to deal with a barrage of questions.

Sitting a little away from them were Maresato and Deadeye, the latter cleaning his combat shotgun as the former watched the children worriedly. Maresato was concerned for his children – what would they do if he died? How would they survive? Surely Deadeye alone couldn't protect them... Or could he? Maresato had been wondering for a while how Genesis and Deadeye had come across each other, how long they'd been travelling together through this.

Maresato looked back at Deadeye, whose sunglasses still resided over his eyes. He figured now, inside the abandoned mental hospital, was the best time to ask him.

"How did you and Genesis find each other?" he blurted out, keeping himself silent in case he woke up the sleeping kids.

Deadeye merely lifted his head up fractionally, as though glancing at the older man. He stopped cleaning his weapon and held it in his hand as though ready to shoot someone, and aimed it to an imaginary person on his left.

"She'd escaped her school when it happened. Men were chasing after her, trying to kill her. I killed them, took her with me." He paused, thinking for a moment. "She's good company. Quiet, too."

"I've noticed she doesn't really open up to any of us. You know, strike up a conversation for the sake of it."

Deadeye seemed to smirk.

"Neither do I," he replied back smartly. At that he went back to cleaning his shotgun, leaving Maresato to his thoughts as the three children continued with their rest.


End file.
